Yume to Akumu
by Sailor Shadow
Summary: What is real... and what is just a dream... If you can't tell... how well do you think Netto and Enzan will do?
1. Yume

.-Yume to Akumu-.  
**Part I:** "_Yume_" ("Dreams")

* * *

Netto looked to the boy that was standing across from him a ways. Ijuuin Enzan. While he had called for and received the Dimensional Area, he was hurriedly preparing his PET for Cross Fusion. Shoving Chips he could use into it at a rushed speed. But usually, by now, Enzan had Cross Fused ahead of him... and he hadn't. Netto pulled his Synchro Chip, and hurried over to Enzan's side. He didn't have to ask why Enzan hadn't already Cross Fused for this battle, Netto took notice that his PET wasn't with him. As he opened his mouth to ask, however, he heard; and barely dodged; a blast of energy that hit between where the two boys had once stood. Despite his sudden concern for ihs friend, he knew he had to hurry to power up for this fight. 

"**Synchro Chip, Slot In! Cross Fusion!**" Netto hurriedly fused with his Navi, and as he finished, Rockman's voice guided him on a course of action. Though Netto's mind was still on Enzan and his lack of a PET. The boy never went anywhere without Blues... at least not if he had a choice. But this was only the first of many strange things since he'd met up with Enzan this evening...

"Netto-kun! Try Shotgun! Maybe we can force that Navi into the light," Rockman repeated... as Netto hadn't heard a word he'd said the first time. Netto nodded, and looked over to the faceless Navi, he yelled.

"**Battle Chip, Sho--**" But Netto couldn't finish, as he had to hurry and leap out of the way. This was when he noticed that, despite the fact he isn't Cross Fused, Enzan still seemed to be battling as if he _were_... simply without any Battle Chips in his PET to aide him. As he landed, Netto realized that Enzan had distracted the Navi enough that he had a clear shot at it. It didn't matter that no one could see his face... His attacks dealt a great deal of damage and that was enough for Netto and Enzan to try and do what they can to stop him from continuing. He held up his right arm, already aiming at the Navi's back. "**Battle Chip, Shotgun! Slot In!**" The chip formed the shotgun over Netto's extended forearm, and he fired quickly. It looked as if it were a perfect hit, but it didn't even phase the Navi.

Well...

...that's a lie. It _did_ phase it. It pissed it off. The Shotgun hits made it turn to aim and fire another blast of energy towards him. As he hurriedly dodged out of the way, and hit the ground rolling, Enzan's voice rang out through the area. He didn't care if the Navi with no face heard or not.

"Netto! Try hitting him with something that's not from your Battle Chips!" He sounded as if he knew because he'd already tried it. Despite that small oddity in the way Enzan spoke, Netto still took a second to think, as the other boy's suggestions usually were accurate, and almost always worked. Netto nodded, and yelled again.

"**Battle Chip, Boomerang! Slot In!**" The shotgun reformed into the Boomerang, and Netto fired it at the ceiling arches above the Navi. It collapsed immediately, and seemed to have worked. Netto grinned to himself, and the Boomerang disappeared. He headed towards Enzan, feeling rather openly triumphant. But he saw that the look on Enzan's face was less than relieved... which was also usually accurate. Just a moment later, the rubble that had buried the Mysterious Navi all but exploded outward, sending large chunks of debris flying swiftly in all directions.

"Netto-kun!" Rockman's voice yelled, hoping his Op had enough time to get safe. Enzan moved to dodge, but Netto had a better idea, and grabbed the boy's arm as he used another Battle Chip.

"**Battle Chip, Area Steal! Slot In!**" Both boys disappeared in time to avoid being slammed with a large, heavy, piece of stone ceiling. They reappeared a distance away, but still within range of the Navi that was attacking. Enzan wretched himself free from Netto's grasp and stepped back towards the Navi with no face. His voice had grown as cold as it used to be, and he didn't look back to Netto.

"Netto. You still get too full of yourself. You're still too sure. I thought you'd grown beyond that," Enzan moved to continue forward, and grabbed a long piece of pipe from the ground by his feet.

"E...En...zan...?" Netto felt stunned. Where had that come from? He wanted to follow Enzan, but he felt like he couldn't move.

"Netto-kun... What are you doing? Go after him!"

"He can't fight like that. He won't survive. What's he doing? There's nothing here he has to prove..." Netto whispered.

"Netto-kun! Snap out of it and go after him!" Rockman yelled.

"There's... There's something wrong," Netto continued. Rockman again tried to tell Netto to move, but he was being ignored. Netto was essentially dazed, and because of that, Rockman knew his Op was in danger. He'd never be able to see anything coming, and could be hurt. Even more so, he knew Netto was right. There's no way Enzan could survive a battle like this without Blues. He had to try and snap Netto out of this. Fast.

"There will be something much worse if you don't listen to me!"

"No. Enzan doesn't act like that. He's not that cold anymore. Even when he was that way to me, he... he was never conceited enough to take on a battle he knew he wouldn't survive," Netto seemed to juts be staring blankly, and Rockman was frustrated... as well as a little more scared.

"I'm sure he's just frustrated, Netto-kun," Rockman said, hoping if he could get Netto to reply to him, he'd be able to snap him out of this.

"Why don't I remember anything about this Navi we're fighting? We never go off without getting information on the enemy, Rockman," Netto asked.

"You were too worried about Enzan to listen. You ran off to hurry here without getting the information, Netto-kun."

"But... Rockman... you _always_ fill me in on the way even if it's through an argument. You've said _nothing_ about this Navi; even after we Cross Fused; as advice from the information that should be known. We can't see his face, but he can dish out insane amounts of damage. This is the **most** unbalanced fight I've _ever_ been in. I don't even remember actually _asking_ Meijin-san for the Dimensional Area this time," Netto stopped, and seemed as if he looked up to the two in front of him. Enzan and the Navi with no face. A battle that Enzan was clearly losing... and badly. Netto's next words were whispered. "This isn't real..."

"Netto-kun?" Rockman's voice seemed a little father away than it should be, and it was enough to allow Netto to hear the other voice that immediately followed his Navi's.

"NETTO!" Enzan's almost panicked voice very close to him. He lightly shook his head to clear his daze, and saw the large blast of energy headed straight for him... too close to dodge. He closed his eyes, hoping he could at least withstand one major hit, and suddenly felt himself get slammed in the side, and knocked to the ground; landing in a roll across it. An explosion sounded where the attack had hit the ground hard. Netto stopped himself from continuing to roll, and after taking a second to regain his bearings, he got to his knees and looked over to where he once stood. He froze in position, and stared. Enzan lie under a large piece of rubble. He didn't look that well. Netto felt himself suddenly grow cold as he looked.

"Netto-kun! Wake up! Please wake up?" Rockman's voice sounded almost scared. As the Navi with no face slammed into the ground between the unconscious Enzan and the Cross Fused Netto, he screamed and jumped as the Navi made a swift move towards him...

As his eyes adjusted, he realized he was sitting straight up in bed... He sat completely still, letting it sink in that all of that was a dream. He finally breathed out, and shifted a hand up to hold his forehead. His other hand clutched lightly at his blanket.

"It... It was a _dream_...?"

"Netto-kun... I'm glad you're finally awake. You looked like you were having a horrible dream, but you weren't hearing me. I kept calling for you to wake up. I was getting worried," Rockman said, rather quickly. Though he'd started the sentences almost upset, he now sounded a bit relieved. And the reason would be that his Op; his friend; was finally awake. Netto blinked, and dropped his hand from his head, looking over to his PET in its cradle... and his Navi on the screen of it looking at him rather concernedly.

"...Rockman..." Netto smiled after a moment, and breathed a bit deeply reaching over and grabbing his PET. "It was more than just a horrible dream... I've never seen anything so vivid before. But... but there was so much wrong. I remember nearly all of it. I even remember that I figured out it wasn't real," he looked over to his bedroom door in thought for a moment. "But even still, I didn't think all of that could be just a dream..."

"Netto-kun...?"

"Hm...?"

"What... What happened to Enzan?" Rockman asked, after hesitating a moment. Netto froze, and looked to the screen of his PET again.

"How did you know anything happened to him in it?"

"Because you called out his name as if something was wrong," Rockman replied. Netto sighed, and flopped back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Rockman...? What time is it?"

"3:20. Why?"

"3:20! I'll never get back to sleep now. And there's no way I'll be awake enough for a test in the morning," Netto smiled, slightly. Rockman just blushed.

"N-Netto... kun... Somehow, I don't think a bad dream is a good excuse for that," Rockman commented, before he realized that Netto had to be tired... since he wasn't responding with anything more than a few mumbled words. Rockman smiled slightly and sighed softly. "Good night... Netto-kun..."

**----------xXx----------**

Netto again fell asleep about an hour before classes were finished, but Meiru had poked him in the side to wake him up. Which somehow had translated into him asking to be called on to answer the question he never heard asked. Mariko-sensei told him he needed to pay more attention before so adamantly volunteering an answer, and Netto gave the glare of death to Meiru... who just smirked at him. After class, Netto's mind kept going back to his dream, though he stood leaning on the broom handle while doing it...

"Netto-kun, you should have been finished about 5 minutes ago. Are you alright?" Rockman's voice snapped Netto out of his half-dazed state.

"I'm fine! I'm fine... Moving... Moving," Netto mumbled, and pushed the broom forward, going down another aisle of desks. After sweeping up the small pile of dirt and disposing of it, Netto put everything away, and stalked out of the room.

"Netto-kun!"

"What!" Netto pulled his PET from the holster on his hip and looked almost confused at Rockman.

"You've fallen asleep throughout the day, you weren't paying any attention while cleaning up, and now you seem like you're not all there. What's the matter with you? I know you had a bad dream last night, but you got enough sleep... You were late this morning," Rockman explained, with his arms crossed.

"I'm fine," Netto was interrupted with a yawn, "...Rockman." He replaced his PET in its holster and quickly put on his skates. Then took off rather slowly towards home.

"I'm hoping you're going home to take a nap, Netto-kun..."

Ijuuin Enzan sat outside a small cafe, staring at his cup. His PET sat on the table beside it, but Blues was not on the screen. He too seemed a bit tired, but looked to be more lost in thought than half-asleep. After a few moments of nothing, a short beep came from the red device as Blues returned to the screen.

"Did you find anything, Blues?" Enzan asked, without looking.

"A few minor reports that are above the normal number, Enzan-sama. However, I don't think that's anything to worry about since it's the end of the month," Blues replied. Enzan nodded, and picked up his PET, dropping change beside his cup as he got up to leave. Turning around, he spied Netto slowly skating towards where he was at, but it didn't look like he was paying that much attention... And he would be right. Instead of acknowledging him as usual, Netto went right on past Enzan, and continued down the street. He showed no signs of slowing to a stop at the upcoming crosswalk either. Making a face, Enzan headed after him. Not a moment later, Rockman's voice could be heard by just about anyone as he tried to draw his Op's attention.

"_Netto-kun!_ **Wake up!** You have to stop here! You _know_ that! You do it **every** day!"

"_Netto!_"

"Eh!" Netto blinked, heard a screech, and felt his orange vest being yanked backwards; which landed him on his rear rather hard. "Ow! Hey! What was-- _Enzan_?"

"What's wrong with you!"

"What do you mean what's wrong with **me**? You're the one that--" Netto heard a car peeling its tires as it sped off... after the driver had slammed his brakes to stop when the he saw Netto just off the sidewalk.

"The one that just pulled you out of the way of that car, Netto-kun," Rockman finished, worriedly.

"I didn't see a car," Netto mumbled.

"You're lucky he saw _you_, Netto," Enzan half-scolded. Netto got up from the ground and brushed himself off huffily.

"Where did **you** come from, anyhow?"

"Where I _always_ do at this time of day. The same place you normally wind up seeing me."

"Well I didn't see you **today**," Netto said, making a face. He then turned, looking to make sure he could cross, and sped off across the crosswalk.

"There's something off about all this," Enzan said, softly.

"I get the feeling that if you hadn't stopped him from crossing, he'd have been in those reports, Enzan-sama."

"I do too..."

**----------xXx----------**

The moment Netto got home, he collapsed tiredly. He never made it to his room. He plopped himself onto the sofa; having stopped only to take off his shoes. It was almost as if he went deaf... in the fact that both his mother and Rockman were calling to him, but he wasn't hearing them. All he wanted was more sleep. And he was comfortable now. Forget moving to his room, this was perfectly fine. He DID think he heard another voice he knew call to him, but his eyes were already shut. He made one sound of a mumbled 'good night' before he shifted his head towards the sofa cushion.

"Netto-kun, you can't sleep out here!" Rockman sighed, and mumbled to himself. "Though here is definitely better than the sidewalk, the street, or the classroom... Eh?" He blinked, and looked over to find Roll heading towards him. "Roll-chan? What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you and Netto, Rockman," she replied, smiling. She stopped beside Rockman and grabbed his arm. "But it seems Netto's not interested in getting up."

"He's tired, Roll-chan. Let him have a nap," Rockman replied, blushing slightly.

"But why's he so tired?"

"Well... He didn't sleep so well... last night," Rockman looked down. "I'm very grateful we made it home in one piece though. I think Netto-kun was sleep-skating half of the time," Rockman's voice sounded very concerned. Roll's face mirrored that.

"Netto! Come on, you lazy thing! Wake up!" Meiru was trying everything to get Netto to reply to her, but he continued to sleep. Though for a moment she wondered if he was sleeping at all, the mental question was answered with a loud snore and a shift of positions by Netto.

"Papa..."

"Netto...?" Meiru blinked. She didn't remember Netto ever talking in his sleep before... At least not like that. The boy sounded overtly concerned, despite the fact he was asleep.

"Netto-kun! Wake up?" Rockman made sure he was heard, but the only one that heard him was Meiru. Netto's mother had busied herself cooking, hoping dinner would get the boy conscious and moving again.

"Pa...Papa...? Wait," Netto shifted, his PET being shoved to the floor since the holster came unclasped when he'd plopped on the sofa. "No..."

"Netto-kun!"

"Netto... Wake up," Meiru sounded to he asking politely. Her face showed worry and she tried to gently shake Netto, hoping it would help wake him up. It seemed the longer he stayed asleep, the more often he would speak.

"Papa, please wait... It's not you I'm worried about... No, Rockman... Rockman is..."

"NETTO-KUN!"

"ROCKman?" Netto jumped, and pushed himself into a kneel on the couch. He blinked before he realized he was awake.

"Netto...? What's wrong!" Meiru demanded. Obviously she knew he'd been dreaming, but was both worried, and confused. However, Netto didn't reply to her. He reached for his PET, but finding it missing, he blinked.

"Netto-kun, the PET's on the floor," Rockman said, flatly. The reply from Netto was a snatched sort of pick up and a hug against his chest.

"Netto! Say something!"

"I'm sorry I fell asleep," the boy replied, without looking up from the floor.

"That wasn't what I had in mind," Meiru sighed. She moved over and sat beside Netto on the couch. "I've never seen you so tired, are you sure you're alright?"

"Netto... Have you been having trouble sleeping? I told you not to eat so much before going to bed!" Haruka said almost scoldingly.

"Mama! It has nothing to do with food!" Netto made a face, but didn't look at his mother... nor did he look at Meiru.

"Maybe you're overdoing it?" Meiru suggested.

"What would he be overdoing? _Sleeping_?"

"Roll-chan!" Rockman's face looked almost insulted for his Op.

"Sorry, Rockman," Roll blushed and sweatdropped in reply. Netto rubbed his eyes, and grumbled something incoherent before he replaced the PET in its holster on his hip.

"Maybe I'm just worried about the lack of attacks. Normally there've been more by now. It's too quiet I guess," Netto finally said, as he got up off the couch.

"It's unlike you to worry so much. That's always Enzan's place," Meiru replied. That sentence, however, made Netto stop walking. "Netto?" Meiru stood as if she were going to go over to him, but Netto sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe you're right," he started, "but I guess I'm just afraid with a break like this it's going to be worse when the next one hits. As much as I don't like fighting all the time, I also hate it when people get hurt because of me." Netto continued towards the door, putting his shoes back on, and left... Ignoring the calls from both his mother and Meiru.

"Where did that come from?" Meiru asked, staring at the door. Haruka sighed and looked at the same place, worriedly.

"I wonder what's gotten into him?"

**----------xXx----------**

Enzan sat behind a desk, alone, leaning on his right arm, his left arm's hand was sitting motionless beside his PET. Blues was silent, though he wondered what exactly his Op was doing since there were no sounds nor any movement. In truth, the boy's blue eyes were closed, and he seemed half-asleep... if not completely. Fearing this to be the case, Blues decided to try and get Enzan's attention.

"Enzan-sama?" No reply... "Enzan-sama!" ...still nothing. "Enzan--" Blues never got to finish the third attempt before he heard a soft thud come from the desk. Enzan's hand had slipped, and he now rest his head on his arm completely. It didn't wake him, however, as he continued to sleep. "...sama... Hn..." Blues crossed his arms, and stared ahead... at the ceiling of the room, as it was the only thing he could see from the screen of the PET.

"Enzan?" A familiar voice was disturbing his sleep... "Enzan?" Too familiar... and a bit grating... "ENZAN!"

"What?" Enzan sat straight up in his chair, and glared at the owner of the voice; Hikari Netto. Enzan was none too pleased at this method of being woken up, and his face showed that quite clearly. Though Netto seemed oblivious to it... his own face showed he was there for something much more relevant than waking Enzan up from his impromptu nap. "What's the matter, Netto?" His voice was a bit less harsh this time.

"We have a small problem..."

"Give me your definition of 'small' before this continues," Enzan replied, flatly, as he stretched and stood up.

"Papa was working on a new program for Rockman and he has my PET... but something triggered the Dimensional Generator, putting a Dimensional Area around the Labs," Netto explained... almost too calmly. Enzan just blinked and stared at Netto.

"...Repeat that? I don't think I heard you right."

"I said Rockman's inside a Dimensional Area with Papa at the Labs," Netto repeated.

"And you call this a SMALL problem?" Enzan asked, trying not to sound as dumbfounded as he felt.

"Well it would be bigger if the Viruses were inside the Dimensional Area... but they're outside of it," Netto continued. Oh how badly Enzan wanted to just facefault through the floor at this.

"This is insane, Netto! What's wrong with you?" He grabbed his PET from the desk, and put it into his pocket as he ran out the door... essentially ignoring Netto altogether.

"Hey! Enzan, wait up!" Netto yelled, and gave chase to the taller boy... after making a small face.

"Enzan-sama... Maybe you were a bit snappy?" Blues said, softly.

"Honestly, I'm surprised to hear that, Blues," Enzan replied, without stopping.

"Well how exactly would you react if the situation were reversed?"

"I wouldn't go to him and tell him I had a small problem, for one," Enzan muttered.

"Yes you would," Blues replied, calmly. This made Enzan slow to a stop and pull the PET from his pocket to look at the screen.

"What do you **mean**, '_yes I would_'?"

"Recently you've gone to him more and more. He helped you to get me back after the Dark Chip took over completely," Blues started. "You're no longer just his rival and his friend, Enzan-sama."

"Blues, you have no idea what you're talking about. Netto is..."

"Yes?" Netto's voice spoke from nearby, having heard Enzan's reply, but not what Blues had said. "I'm what?"

"Nothing," Enzan made a face, glancing back at Netto, and moving forward.

"Wait... I'm 'nothing'?" Netto blinked, and hurried after him.

Upon arrival at the Labs, it became hard to miss not only the Dimensional Area that was there, but the seemingly millions of viruses that almost wanted into the area instead of destroying the surrounding area. Enzan looked at this scene a bit puzzled. Netto just looked past the Dimensional Area and viruses to the Labs; worriedly. Enzan looked to Netto for a moment before he spoke.

"Netto..."

"Hm?"

"Are you sure the Generator was turned on by _accident_?"

"Papa would have told me if he'd done it on purpose." Netto looked from the Lab buildings, to Enzan as if he were an idiot.

"You said he was working on a new program from Rockman. Are you sure that he didn't put this up to prevent anyone from getting to it before it was finished?"

"I don't think... that... the program... could be... _that_ important..."

"You have **no** idea what is and _isn't_ important to **anyone**, Netto," Enzan said, almost annoyed, and looked around. He spied two Mettools trying to attack the barrier together, but only damaging the concrete underneath themselves and bouncing the attacks back to hit whatever was behind them. '_That's... odd..._' Enzan thought, but moved to look farther, hoping to spy a steep enough hill or some means of gathering a lot of speed. The way they're created may be different, but; so far as anyone knows; the means of passing through the Dimensional Area's barrier is the same. Speed and Timing. Something both boys have already achieved before.

"Enzan? What are you doing?" Netto's voice sounded a bit miffed.

"I'm trying to find us a way through the barrier. I suggest you do the same," Enzan replied, without looking at the brunette.

"But I don't have my PET with me, how--" Enzan spied a road that was a steep hill, but would be close in terms of how long it was until it met up with the barrier's edge. With this, he interrupted Netto.

"Let me use your skates to build up speed down that hill. You'll have to hold onto me, but I think your added weight might help increase the speed to hit the barrier right. When I activate Cross Fusion, it should take both of us through."

"Enzan... I did that once... It's not as easy as you make it _sound_," Netto bit his lip.

"That doesn't matter, Netto. That is, unless you want to stay out here?"

"Fine, fine!" Netto handed over his skates, grumpily, and the two boys headed off towards the top of the slope. Once there, Enzan put the skates on, standing almost precariously as he clutched his red PET tightly. Enzan looked over to Netto.

"Alright, let's do this if we're going to. Hang on to my back, it'll keep from your feet slowing us down," Enzan explained. '_Why does this feel weird?_' He thought, as Netto hesitantly wrapped his arms around his shoulders and they took off. '_I'm only doing this to get Netto inside the Dimensional Area..._'

"Enzan-sama, almost," Blues quickly said. Enzan just nodded, and readied the Synchro Chip. However, two feet in front of the barrier's edge, a few viruses gathered as if planning on facing the incoming boys.

"Damnit!" Enzan yelled, as he shifted his weight to make the skates turn to the sides in hopes of a stop. However, as fast as they had been going, that wasn't going to stop them from continuing down. Both Enzan and Netto heard a loud snap, and a group of about 6 wolf-like Garauss viruses leapt towards the two incoming humans. Enzan gritted his teeth, and grabbed Netto's arms. Without any warning, he tossed the brunette over the wolves... but unfortunately, when he landed, Netto rolled right into the edge of the Dimensional Area's barrier.

Enzan didn't have time to feel guilty.

He let himself slam onto the ground, and managed to roll under the leaping Garauss. Of course, the sort of landing he just pulled essentially shredded the sleeves of his jacket...

"Enzan-sama?" Blues' voice sounded more distant than it should. But it was because of his Navi's voice calling to him that he realized the Synchro Chip and his PET had skittered in two different directions when he hit the ground.

"Blues!" Enzan winced and hurried to his feet. He only stumbled a step of two before he yanked the PET from the ground, and continued forward another three steps. He looked from the PET's screen over to Netto, but realized that he still couldn't see the Synchro Chip anywhere, his mind wasn't able to choose what exactly he needed to pay attention to the most. The lost chip, his PET's condition, or Netto...

The answer would give itself up momentarily as the unconscious Netto was being approached by a few of both Viruses. A missing chip wasn't going to help him now; but if he lost that chip, it couldn't be easily replaced for a future situation that it would help him in. Enzan gritted his teeth and did his best to look around for a glint of the shiny green surface in the center of the Synchro Chip. Unfortunately... he spotted it. It was in the way of an approaching Mettool, and the Virus was sure to crush it. How it had managed to skip over that way, Enzan didn't ask. He took a step, then bolted over towards both his Synchro Chip and Netto.

"ENZAN-SAMA?" Blues' voice shouldn't be more distant from him than it had been last time. It should be closer... He was holding the PET in his hand against him. Blues also seemed much more scared that he should honestly be in this situation. Still, he shook that off in time to dive for the chip before the Mettool on a Crash Course with it could take the fateful step.

Enzan wound up skidding along the ground, catching the very arm he'd just grabbed his Synchro Chip with on the foot of the Mettool he was trying to save it from. His shoulder felt pulled in the wrong direction...

"WAKE UP! ENZAN-SAMA!" Blues' voice jerked the boy straight up, but the motion also shifted his precarious postion and slid him off his chair into the floor. Sadly, on the way down, he smacked his forehead on the desk. "Enzan-sama? Are you alright!" The red Navi's voice was full of true concern, and what seemed like residual panic.

"Ow..." Enzan grumbled, and shifted, using the arm that was not mostly asleep to pull him up from his postion under the desk. "I think I was... until you scared me like that. Blues, don't _do_ that," Enzan made a face, rubbing a small red mark on his forehead that now also stung.

"I'm truly sorry... but you weren't replying to me, Enzan-sama. I've been trying to wake you for nearly an hour now," Blues explained. His Op looked at the PET on the desk oddly before he settled himself back in the chair and picked up the device itself.

"3:20 AM? I _can't_ have been asleep here that long... It wasn't even 10 when I last looked at a clock," Enzan continued to stare at the time display in the corner. Something Blues occasionally did through the night, or at times when Enzan had somewhere very important to be on a rather tight schedule. Blues just nodded.

"You finished what you came here to work on, but you fell asleep on me, Enzan-sama. However, you've only been asleep for about 3 hours, at best," Blues explained freely.

"Three...?"

"Three hours and twenty minutes if you want to be technical."

"I _didn't_," Enzan grumbled to himself and shifted his position in the chair. He stood up, immediately hearing his Navi's voice before he even finished.

"I can get a car for you if--"

"No. I can walk home," Enzan interrupted, "The cold outside will keep me awake."

"Very well, Enzan-sama..." Blues made a face after Enzan put the PET in his pocket.

Despite what he believed, the night air wasn't as cold as Enzan had thought. It took him almost 2 hours before he made it home, but he wasn't finished yet. He still had to make it inside, up the stairs, and to his room before he could collapse until morning. Of course, to Enzan right now, this felt like it was a lot longer than a walk across town had been. Still, he let himself in, locked the door behind him, and made it about halfway up the staircase before he had to sit down. This was stupid. It shouldn't matter that it was so short in actual duration, he still had already slept over 3 hours. He'd walked farther than that before, and it never made him this tired.

"Enzan-sama?" Enzan pulled the PET from his pocket and looked to his Navi, tiredly.

"Hm?"

"You're almost there, are you feeling alright?" Despite the lack of true eye contact, Enzan could still see concern on Blues' face.

"I'm fine... Blues..." Enzan sighed softly, gave up, and flipped himself over, deciding that actually getting to his bed was more important than how he did it. So... climbing the stairs on all fours was no longer such a stupid thought to him. After getting to the top, he was able to use the wall the rest of the distance to his room. He didn't even put Blues on the charger. The PET itself wound up under his hand on the bed beside him as he flopped onto it. The red Navi gave his own, soft sigh, realizing his Op was easily half-asleep before he'd even hit his pillow... If not completely, just a moment after.

"Good night... Enzan-sama..."  
--------------------------------  
TBC... X3

**Author's Note: **I figured... 1.) This was long enough. 2.) It was as good a point as any to end the chapter. 3.) I was satisfied in terms of how I want the next chapter to go from here.

4.) There is no four. X3

I can't really describe it that well. Except that this takes place in the third season of Rockman EXE... Which is 'Stream'. Which is the current season in Japan as of this writing.

Also, yes, I know it's sort of difficult to tell the dreams from reality until a little afterwards, but that'd be the point.

And no, I don't intend anything TRULY Shounen Ai, but random hinting done even in regular series anime is sort of hard NOT to do. I don't think these will qualify as Mature. If you believe so, let me know then and I'll change the rating.

P.S. This was posted on SA. I have 5 Chapters completed and am working on the 6th. But since SA (SheezyArt) has been like... dead... for over a month and a half (easy) I've decided to post the chapters here so that people can once more actually _comment_ on these and so I can **post** Chapter 6 when I complete it. x.O I will post on here and SA for those watching me there. X3 (Name: YumeOokami)

P.P.S. I used "**----------xXx----------**" because doesn't like asterisks. This is mean. -cries and pouts-


	2. Akumu

.-Yume to Akumu-.  
**Part II:** "_Akumu_" ("Nightmares")

* * *

Enzan woke the next morning a little later than he usually did. His PET had gone into Sleep Mode shortly after he'd gotten to his bed. Mostly to preserve the batteries since it was not on the charger. Blues had probably managed to activate it himself since he knew Enzan wasn't awake to do it. Enzan pushed himself from the position he'd fallen asleep in and sat on the edge of the bed, reactivating the PET. Blues appeared on the screen as if he'd been standing there the whole time, but Enzan was used to it. 

"I'm sorry, Blues. I should have at _least_ put you on the charger last night."

"No. It's fine, Enzan-sama," Blues replied. "Since I went into Sleep Mode, my power levels are high enough to get through the day. You should get ready to go. You're due at a meeting in two hours."

"Thank you, Blues," Enzan didn't really feel like going anywhere today, but skipping anything was never an option unless he were truly sick. That had only ever happened once, and he made himself go back as soon as he could. Despite Blues' insistence that he take one more day at the time. "Which meeting is this morning?"

"Iris Marketing first, this afternoon is Stratitec Games," Blues replied.

"But I thought Stratitec was next week?"

"You received an e-mail with the update. You read it last night, Enzan-sama."

"I don't remember reading _anything_, Blues," Enzan didn't sound mad, but he did sound a bit confused. He put the PET on the charger; despite what Blues had said; and hurried out of his room to shower and change. Blues took the opportunity to gather any e-mails that were waiting and additional information on what Enzan had asked him to look up yesterday. It took Enzan 15 minutes to return, and another 4 or so to get dressed. He went over to his PET, and looked for his Navi, but found him missing from the screen. "Blues? Are you there?"

"Yes, Enzan-sama," Blues replied as he reappeared on the screen in a flash of pixels. "I've gathered a little more information on what you requested yesterday, and you have two more e-mails concerning your agenda today."

"What's changed?" Enzan asked, as he picked up the PET.

"Both have been shifted an hour ahead. Your first meeting is now in a little over a half an hour, Enzan-sama. I've already called a car for you."

"There's no way, even _with_ a car, I can get there in half an hour! There's no way to put the time back?" Enzan ran from his room, not looking to the PET, and seemed to skip every other step on the way down.

"This was sent three hours ago, normally there should be enough time for schedule changes. I'm sorry I didn't try to get your schedule for you sooner, Enzan-sama," Blues expected Enzan to be mad at him, since this was almost completely out of character for the red Navi... but Enzan wasn't mad at him. In fact, what Blues could make out of his Op's reply was that he was mad at _himself_ now. This just made him feel worse about it. He fell completely silent as Enzan hurried into the waiting car outside.

**----------xXx----------**

Like Enzan, Netto had also forgotten to put his PET on the charger. But Netto was having trouble getting himself fully awake, and Rockman knew that if he'd gone into Sleep Mode, Netto would never wake up for school. But because of that, Rockman was already feeling the lack of power to the PET affecting him.

"Netto-kun... Wake up! You'll be late!" Rockman's voice sounded as tired as he felt. He just hoped he'd have enough power for Netto to get through school. Netto wasn't budging from his bed. "Netto-kun?" He got a low grumble in reply. "Netto-kun! Wake up! You need to get to school!" Rockman was as loud as he could be, and very demanding. He'd already let Netto sleep longer than he should have.

"Rockman... I don't want to get up. I can't move..." Netto mumbled into his pillow.

"You have to try. You'll feel better if you do. Take the time to get a short shower. It'll help you wake up." Rockman suggested.

"Only if it's ice cold. And I hate cold showers," Netto replied. He kicked his covers off haphazardly, and slumped when he managed to sit up. He looked to the screen of the PET, having taken that with his hand when he pushed himself up. "Rockman, why didn't you got into Sleep Mode? The PET's battery won't make it the rest of the day, it's too low!" He seemed much more awake now, and took note of the Navi's posture.

"I'll be fine for the length of a school day. But you'll have to come home after school and plug the PET into the charger, Netto-kun," Rockman explained. Netto looked worried. Rockman sighed, "Alright, alright. I promise once you get to school, you can put the PET into Sleep Mode. But you don't have time to charge the PET before you leave. You'll be too late and get in trouble with Mariko-sensei."

"Agreed," Netto said, hesitantly. He got up, and changed into clean clothes, brushed his teeth and hair, put his bandana back on and ran downstairs with his backpack and Rockman. He never stopped for anything to eat, and barely got his blades on his shoes correctly before he took off for school as fast as he could go.

"Netto?" Haruka turned, after she heard the door slam. "That's strange... Usually he at least takes toast before he goes..."

**----------xXx----------**

During lunch, Enzan didn't bother to eat. Blues had insisted, but since he'd been late this morning, his father had given him a bit extra to do to make up for the fact that he'd had to take the first meeting this morning. Enzan now didn't have time to even eat a sandwich for lunch if he wanted to get enough work done and things that he'd need ready for the afternoon meeting with Stratitec. He didn't even get to look over the additional information that Blues had gathered for him from his request yesterday. An hour later, he had 15 minutes to be down the hall for his meeting when an incoming message; marked as 'urgent'; arrived. Upon opening it, Meijin's face appeared, and Enzan immediately bit his lip. This wasn't a good day...

"Enzan-kun. A group of Garauss Viruses are attacking--"

"I can't, Meijin... Get Netto to--"

"I can't, Rockman's not answering the PET and upon checking with the school, he has to stay after school for being late this morning. Yuuichirou also prefers we don't take him from classes," Meijin frowned slightly. "You're the one who's closer, regardless of all of that. The viruses are two buildings down from IPC. I'm sorry if I've taken you from something important, but you're the only one available at this moment." Meijin finished, but Enzan didn't reply. He looked at the clock... and bit his lip. His father wasn't going to like being asked to take over the Stratitec meeting, no matter how good a reason for it. Then he recalled the other Net Saviors that should be there as well. "Why can't--"

"Enzan-kun, please. I'm very sorry, but you **are** a Net Savior. Those duties are _just_ as important as being Vice President of IPC. Please hurry," Meijin didn't give time for the boy to reply to him and disconnected.

"Enzan-sama... You.. You could just ignore it and go to the meeting if you don't feel the need to-"

"Meijin's right."

"Eh?" Blues was actually confused. He understood how Enzan had to feel about the events that happened this morning, and why he was acting the way he was towards Meijin in response to his message. But...

"Blues? Can you honestly tell me whether I'm awake? Could you, yourself, tell me that I'm not really going off on a Net Savior mission, but instead, I fell asleep at my desk during lunch?"

"I..."

"The last two nights I've had a dream that I thought was real, but I woke up from it finding that no matter how off or terrible it was, it still wasn't real. I don't remember falling asleep, but that doesn't mean I didn't. I didn't remember falling asleep any other time," Enzan stopped and looked around the office, "Still, there was usually something else strange about the situation, and I'm not seeing it."

"Enzan-sama... I'm s-"

"No, Blues, don't say it... It's not your fault. But decisions like this aren't easy to make. Listen to me. I can't even tell if I'm awake or asleep. I'm even giving logic to this being a dream and denying it at the same time," Enzan sighed, and stood up, picking the red PET up off the desk. "No matter what, this isn't a condition I should be in to handle a business meeting. Send a message to Otousan. Tell him an urgent Net Savior mission came up and he has to take over the Stratitec meeting. There's no choice. And if this is a dream, I'll wake up and get to that meeting anyway, right?"

"Right... Enzan-sama..." What could Blues really say? His Op was starting to make less and less sense as the day went on. But he was still his Op, no matter what the situation. Blues sent out a short message to Ijuuin Shuuseki, as Enzan left his office to leave the building. Blues was sure Enzan wasn't dreaming, but there was no way he could think of to convince his Op of that. Besides... of all the things he didn't have this morning, coffee was not one of them. He'd had three cups at least since he got into the car this morning, and Blues was sure that was enough to get Enzan through most of the day. The red Navi read the message that was sent in return to his... and couldn't bear to give the news to Enzan now. He felt rather guilty even just sending it, despite the fact that the memo had been worded as seriously as text could be. He decided he would wait until after the mission to break it to his Op... it'd be _another_ long night when he got back...

**----------xXx----------**

Netto was only half conscious in his class, Rockman had been put into Sleep Mode as he promised Netto could do. Meiru asked him at lunch why Roll and the others couldn't see Rockman. Netto had to explain what happened. Though Meiru seemed to understand, Dekao and Yaito called him stupid for forgetting something like that. Though Yaito said she could easily have Glyde call for a charger if Netto wanted to charge Rockman's PET while at school. Netto declined, though no one could make out what he'd said as a reason. He had been starved by the time lunch had arrived in the first place, but he hardly ate anything once it got there. Meiru had to wake him up 5 minutes before lunch ended so he could try and get a few more bites of food and wake up for afternoon classes.

"Netto-kun?"

"Hm...?" Netto replied rather tiredly.

"Do you know the answer?" The voice was that of his teacher, and it took him too long to register that. His reply made that obvious... well... at least the fact he wasn't paying attention...

"The answer to what...?"

"Netto-kun, are you even paying attention?" Mariko sounded disappointed, but also concerned. She could see his face. He looked beyond tired.

"Netto, it's math," Meiru whispered, poking him in the back.

"Bath?" Netto blinked, and looked back to Meiru; now more awake than a minute ago.

"Math, Netto. _Math._ Numbers?" Meiru pointed at the book on her desk. Netto looked back to his, and realized he'd never changed subject books. He felt much more stupid than he must have looked.

"Netto-kun? Why don't you come up here and do the equation for us?" Mariko silently hoped that getting him to stand up and walk a little would help wake him up. Netto seemed like he just changed from flesh-toned to ghostly pale in two seconds... with a tinge of pink on his cheeks.

"_**Me!**_"

"_Yes_, you. It's not _that_ difficult, is it?" Mariko tried to sound as stern as she could. Netto nodded and got up, heading up. Just that made him feel like the floor was moving, but he ignored it. Mariko handed Netto her piece of chalk for him to use, but his grip didn't seem very firm... Not one kid didn't notice Netto's handwriting seemed sloppier than normal as he tried to write the numbers for the equation presented. He stopped in the middle of writing, and Mariko watched, wondering if he was trying to think or not. Her mental question was answered as the chalk fell to the floor and broke in two. The brunette boy that had a hold of a moment ago was following it. Mariko barely caught him before he hit, and sent the girl nearest the door to the nurse's office.

...Meiru took this moment to grab Netto's PET and wake up Rockman...

"Netto... kun...?" The blue Navi seemed more tired than usual, and rubbed at his eye before he realized it was Meiru he was seeing. "_Meiru-chan?_ What's wrong with Netto-kun?" Rockman seemed much more awake now and his instinct was right, of course. It shouldn't be anyone but Netto waking him up unless something was wrong. Meiru's face also told him he'd been right before her words did.

"I don't know, Rockman. He just collapsed at the chalkboard," Meiru looked as the nurse came in, briefly looked over Netto, and took him with her. Mariko looked at the class, and had to announce that they'd move on despite what happened.

"He... _collapsed_?" Rockman sounded almost scared, and a moment later, Roll appeared beside him in a burst of blue pixels. She gave him a hug, which Rockman couldn't make himself return. His Op had just collapsed in school... That was all he was thinking about... "_Netto-kun..._" Roll made a face, a little upset that Rockman didn't return the hug... but she understood why...

**----------xXx----------**

Yuuichirou hung up the phone, and looked upset. He turned, and sped past Meijin, who was watching the rather swift, but strange battle Enzan was having with the Garauss. What was so strange was that it seemed like the boy; even Cross Fused; was being overtly hesitant about making choices and moves. This was prolonging the battle unnecessarily... and wasn't like Enzan at all. The lights flickered momentarily, but Meijin ignored it and took a few steps after Yuuichirou, calling out to him, confused.

"Hikari-hakase? What's wrong?"

"Netto's collapsed at school!" Yuuichirou called back, without stopping. Meijin blinked... that went too fast. He looked back to find Enzan had only a few Garauss left yet, and wondered what would have made Netto collapse, and if Enzan's current battle actions were from the same thing... He hesitated to ask the question though, as Enzan might ask what prompted it...

**----------xXx----------**

...While in Enzan's mind, he was trying to figure out why; if this was a dream; he hadn't woken up yet. He didn't remember actually getting into a battle before. Just the events that would lead up to it, and Blues would wake him up around then.

"Enzan-sama, please be more careful. You _should_ be **finished** by now. Are you **sure** you're alright?" Enzan used the sword to slash two more of the wolf-like Viruses, leaving only three more.

"I'm fine, Blues, though I realize this can't be a dream... I'd have woken up by now... or at least found something else wrong with this entire thing. Aside from Garauss attacking a candy manufacturer. Which I don't remember," Enzan was almost rambling. Blues felt worried when he realized that.

"**Battle Chip, Wide Sword! Slot In!**" The Wide Sword appeared over top the red sword Enzan had, and he dashed forward. Realizing how few were left, he made his move to take the last three out with one go. He would have made it too, but the last one saw what happened to its brothers, and leapt aside. The Garauss snarled, loudly, and leapt towards Enzan.

"Enzan-sama! To the right! Blues tried to warn his Op, but his reaction wasn't fast enough. He just barely made it turned in time to put the Wide Sword up, and the Garauss bit into it and it snapped. Enzan thought he just found something else that was odd, yet it still made sense to him... The rest of the sword disappeared into his hand, and he backed up. He heard a strange, but familiar noise, and his surroundings seemed to be changing. Enzan realized what was going on.

"W-wait a minute... I'm not-" Enzan was interrupted when his body glowed white, and the Cross Fusion burst into pixels; reforming his PET in front of him. But the Garauss had been there before the Dimensional Area had gone up... and as such, it didn't disappear when it went down. Enzan quickly grabbed his PET, but no message from Meijin was received for an explanation. He didn't wait long enough to be told to move. He couldn't fight a Virus without being Cross Fused with his Navi. It was an outmatched fight, him being on the losing end. He wasn't stupid. He made it outside, and hoped he'd lost the wolf, Meijin finally appeared on the screen, but it seemed there was no light behind him.

"Enzan-kun! Are you alright? The power's been cut from the Labs, it interrupted the Dimensional Generator. With us now on Backup Generators, there's not enough to resume the Dimensional Area. Is everything alright?"

"There's one left, but I think I lost--" He didn't get to finish, his PET was thrown from him as the Garauss pounced on him from the side. The impact with the street knocked the wind out of the boy's lungs, and he lay gasping for air.

"Enzan-kun?" Meijin's voice was almost completely drowned out by Blues'...

"ENZAN-SAMA!"

"BLUES!" Enzan managed to cough out rather loudly. The Garauss wasn't liking the loudness so much... it gave a loud snarl, and almost managed to land its teeth on Enzan's throat...

...Almost.

Enzan barely grabbed the wolf's jaws, and held them in place. He was obviously struggling with it, but had no choice.

"Meijin! You HAVE to find someone! I need-- Ow... I need help with this thing!" Enzan truly hated to ask this, but considering he was barely keeping the wolf's jaws from snapping shut on his hands, he knew there was no choice.

"There isn't anyone, Enzan-kun. Laika's not here at all and couldn't get here in time. Netto's collapsed at school--"

"WHAT!" The last one caught Enzan off-guard, which was a bad thing... his precarious position slipped, and the Garauss' teeth sank completely into the boy's left hand and wrist. The sudden, intense pain made him scream... it was nothing anyone _else_ would do in that situation, and pain hurt just as much to Enzan as it did to anyone else...

"ENZAN-SAMA!" Blues cried out, openly scared about the scream he'd heard. Though he was relieved to see his Op pick up the PET a minute later, he looked to still be in pain. "Enzan-sama, are you alright?"

"No time for that now, Blues," Enzan replied, and took off, still half-coughing from having the wind knocked out of him. The wolf had no hesitation in following his prey. It bolted after Enzan, who was running towards where he'd been earlier in the day. He hoped that he'd find somewhere to get away from; or trap; the Garauss before it could do any more damage. As he neared the building, the fact that he was a two-legged creature caught up with him... The Garauss once more leapt at him, but slammed into his back hard enough to send him; ironically; crashing through the glass doors to the IPC lobby. He managed to hold onto his PET this time... but with little point... as his trajectory slammed him into the desk within the lobby, and knocked the boy unconscious almost immediately.

"Enzan-sama!" Blues cried out for the 10th time today, easily. This time, however, he got no response... Enzan-sama?" He sounded much more panicked, realizing that if his Op was unconscious, and there was no one around, the Garauss would win...

...and his Op would...

Blues heard about three shots fired at the same time. He recognized two of the voices as belonging to Security Guards at IPC.

"What **is** that thing?"

"It looks like a _wolf_?"

"It's a Garauss Virus!" Blues yelled from his PET. "Keep it away from Enzan-sama!" That was his main priority. He searched for the closest network, and put a signal out for an ambulance. He also informed Meijin that Enzan was hurt, and the Garauss was still loose. The security guards didn't hesitate on taking their orders from the Navi. It seemed the silent, third guard became a new piece of prey for the Garauss, as it no longer seemed to be after Enzan... The other two guards were trying to get the wolf off their colleague now.

...Blues felt a little cruel for thinking this way, but he couldn't help having the thought that at least they were doing their job of keeping Enzan safe...

**----------xXx----------**

Rockman was taken from the classroom by Yuuichirou, and the two of them went to the nurse's station to see Netto. The nurse had put him in a side room on a bed, but couldn't find anything all that wrong with him. She explained what happened, but admitted she was puzzled. Rockman spoke quietly when she was finished.

"He's been extremely tired the last two days, Papa."

"I did notice he fell asleep in his clothes last night..."

"He fell asleep three times yesterday. If it hadn't been for Enzan, he would have been hit by a truck going home," Rockman looked down, ashamed to admit his Op could have been hurt so badly and there wasn't anything he could do... Not if Netto wouldn't listen him. Being inside a PET gives limitations. Ones that bothered him too often lately.

"I see..." Yuuichirou looked up from the PET, back to the nurse, "Have you tried to wake him?"

"Yes, but he's not responding. What confuses me more is that there's no signs of an injury that would cause this and he really does seem to just be sleeping. I can't wake him up no matter what I do," she replied. Rockman's voice once more broke in, but it was even quieter... Since all he had was a theory...

"You might not be able to until 3:20..."

"What do you mean? Why 3:20? Rockman, do you know what's wrong with Netto?"

"No, Papa. But the last two nights I've tried to wake him up from nightmares, but he doesn't respond to what I do. He seems to hear me, and always wakes up at 3:20. Yesterday when he fell asleep at home, my clock read 3:20 when he hit the couch. He didn't stay asleep very long, but he still seemed to have a bad dream in the short time he was out," Rockman looked at Yuuichirou with a lot of fear as well as worry in his bright, green eyes.

"This is strange..."

"P-Papa... no..." Netto's voice weakly called from the room. Yuuichirou turned and quickly entered the room where his son was. The boy was shifting under the thin, white sheet over him, and now appeared to be sweating. His left hand was clutching the sheet, while his right seemed to just be at his side.

"Netto-kun..."

"No... No, it's Enzan... He... He's..."

"Netto?" Yuuichirou tried, but the boy still wasn't replying. He spoke again, but it was mumbled less coherently than what he'd said so far. Yuuichirou looked at Rockman on the PET's screen, and noted the battery warning had appeared, and Rockman seemed much more tired than he had been. "Rockman, why isn't the PET charged?"

"Netto-kun barely made it to bed last night. He forgot to plug the PET into the charger like he normally did."

"Why didn't you go into Sleep Mode to preserve battery power?" Rockman's initial reply to that was to look down, ashamed.

"I know I should have... but... if I had... Netto-kun would never had gotten up to come to school in the first place. I'm sorry, Papa. I didn't know this was going to happen! If I had known what would happen with Netto-kun, I'd have gone into Sleep Mode. I wouldn't have worried about waking him up! I--"

"Rockman, calm down. You did nothing wrong. It's alright," Yuuichirou knew Rockman was upset with himself. He felt he'd caused his Op to collapse. It was too obvious in the way he was acting. "What time is it?"

"2:15 PM, Papa... If what I believe is what's going to happen, it's going to be another 55 minutes before we can get Netto-kun awake," Rockman sounded as if he wanted to cry. The PET beeped, and in a moment, an image of Blues appeared in the corner. Rockman jumped, and looked to the red Navi... even without seeing his eyes for the visor, Rockman knew immediately that something was wrong.

"Blues? What is it?" Yuuichirou asked; almost for the little blue Navi.

"Enzan-sama was..." Blues stopped, and visibly bit his lip. Yuuichirou looked over to Netto, who still seemed to be experiencing something horrible, but had quieted his words.

...he recalled what Netto had said clearly...

_"No... No, it's Enzan... He... He's..."_

'Could... Could Netto have seen...?' Yuuichirou thought, but Rockman's worried voice broke through.

"What happened to Enzan, Blues...?" Rockman was looking at the small window.

"Enzan-sama is... in the hospital... He was attacked by a Garauss Virus that couldn't be taken care of before the Dimensional Area was lost. The power to the Labs was cut," Blues explained. Yuuichirou jerked, and looked to Rockman, then to his son.

"Do you know if the power has been restored to the Labs, Blues?" He tried to sound sympathetic, but the power just suddenly being cut made him feel strange.

"I don't know," Blues looked away. The bit of his face that was visible seemed paler than usual. Rockman took note of both that and Blues' strange manner.

"What's wrong with Enzan...? How bad--"

"You can see for yourself if you want to. I don't want to describe it!" Blues snapped his reply. He said nothing more, and immediately ended Transmission before it went any farther.

"Papa..."

"What is it, Rockman?"

"Maybe you should take Netto-kun to the hospital as well. This can't be good for his health no matter what," Rockman suggested. Albeit, hesitantly.

"I think you might have a good idea, Rockman..."

**----------xXx----------  
**..._now I lay me down to sleep_...  
**----------xXx----------**

Voices... Random... Familiar, yet strange... calling indistinctly...

"_Vice President? Are you in there? Sir?_"

"_This is not the way you are supposed to act in a business!_"

"_Should we open the door, Sir?_"

"_Yes. I need to see what's so important, he's skip out on another meeting. He knows his responsibilities._"

Enzan's head flew off the desk, and he sat straight up in his chair. His PET looked to be completely off, which was the first odd thing he noticed. The second was the clock on the wall clearly reading 3:20... but the digital display on it was blinking that time, which meant it could be wrong. Either way, he was late, and knew the voices he'd heard hadn't been part of a dream. He picked up the PET, but found it wouldn't power up. A moment later, the door to his office was forcibly opened, and just the scene that was walked in on looked completely wrong. Enzan's hair looked so very messy from having slept on his desk, and the way he held the PET in his hands seemed different than usual. He had stood up when the doors opened, and had a look of shock on his face as he stared at the man behind the two Security Guards.

"Explain yourself. In less than one minute." It was the only thing Shuuseki said to the boy in front of the desk chair. He dismissed the two guards, and closed the office doors behind him. Enzan was still half-asleep, his brain hadn't caught up with everything yet; but it was trying damn hard to do so as fast as possible.

"Otousan... I... I don't... It..." This wasn't like him at all. He never stuttered. He hadn't acted like this since he was 6. He still had his thumb pressing the Power button, but it still wasn't activating. '_Blues... Come on... I **need** you!_' Enzan thought, still unable to answer his father.

"Thirty seconds," Shuuseki replied.

"I'm sorry..." Enzan finally got out. As close to his normal tone as possible.

"Sorry!" The man's hand swung, but never hit Enzan. Instead, the PET was smacked out of his hands and bounced across the floor. Enzan visibly winced, and pulled his hands towards himself. "You're late for a meeting this morning; though you **did** give a notice on the way; and you completely abandon the meeting this afternoon but find the time to have Blues send me a random message about Net Saviors? Only for me to find you here anyway with your PET instead of doing any work?"

"Otousan, I never sent... Th-the PET isn't--"

"You are too far behind in your work for me to take you seriously right now. I don't understand what's gotten into you, but you've laxed too much on what you should be doing. This Net Savior business is not as important as your job is here at IPC. You need to learn that," Enzan's father looked to where the PET had landed, and headed towards it. The boy panicked, realizing where this was going faster than he believed his brain to be working yet. He turned and got to the device faster, begging the PET to power up, but it still refused. He found his father's hand on the device, and felt it being pulled away.

"No!" Enzan tightened his grip on the PET, but the rounded edges were making this harder than it had to be. He was only looking at the PET and his hands, trying desperately to keep hold of it. He had developed a sense of danger during his battles with Blues by his side. This kicked in a little later than usual, as he blinked, and turned to have a hand impact with his cheekbone. It released his grip, and sent him to the floor, almost sprawled. He stayed there, wincing, for a moment before he pushed himself to his knees, and looked to his father; who was now leaving with his PET. "WAIT!" This got Shuuseki to stop, and looked back to the boy on the floor. The one with a cold, angry glare in his blue eyes.

"I didn't say you'd never get Blues back. But I believe; at this point; you're going to need to show me you can earn him back. I know how you normally work, Enzan. Get rid of this new side of you. It's unbefitting to my company," Shuuseki finished, and left the office. Enzan flipped himself over to sit on the floor, and pushed himself backwards until he was against the wall nearby. Normally, with something like this, he'd probably start in to work immediately. Intent on getting his Navi and PET back as soon as he could. But this wasn't a normal situation. He didn't know if he'd just woken up... or just gotten to sleep. For all he knew, he was still sitting at his desk; out cold; with Blues in front of him.

...-_I pray the Lord my soul to keep_-...

Any minute now his Navi could call for him to wake up.

...He _begged_ to hear Blues asking him to wake up...

"Blues...?"

The silence was getting to him much more that what just happened...

"Blues... _Please..._ if you can hear me... wake me up... **Wake me up...**" Enzan lowered his head and put his hands behind it, using his arms to cover his ears. His voice lowered to nothing but a whisper. One that sounded to have serious tears behind it. "Wake _up_, Ijuuin. Wake. _Up..._"

**----------xXx----------**  
..._if I should die before I wake_...  
**----------xXx----------**

He could hear distant cries. None of them were possibly calling him, were they? It was nice here... He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to enjoy this place. It was calm, quiet, and relaxing. Somewhere he knew he'd been many times.

...Sleep.

And he would be enjoying it, completely, if he didn't hear these annoying voices getting louder. They were certainly coming for him. He recognized the two of them.

"Netto? Netto, honey, please wake up..."

"Netto? Can you hear me? Please wake up, son..."

"P...Papa...? But... But I saw... Mama!" Netto sat up, his eyes seemed to take forever to adjust. He recognized the Nurse's Office at school. His parents were both there, alone with him, in the room. He leapt from his position and pounced his mother. "Mama!" Netto still sounded half-panicked, and was clutching Haruka for dear life. She felt her son shaking slightly, and tightly wrapped her arms around him.

"Netto...? What's wrong?" Yuuichirou asked, seeing the concerned look on his wife's face.

"I... I saw... I watched... Mama... Papa... Everyone... I..." Netto made a small squeak, and continued, "It's my fault. All of it is my fault..."

"Netto... Whatever it was, it was just a dream. A Bad Dream. I promise you. Nothing happened here. And nothing is your fault..." Haruka's voice was soft and comforting, but it didn't stop the boy's shaking.

"Ro... Rockman...?" He shifted, to look back at his father, and released his mother enough to reach for the blue PET. Yuuichirou handed it over easily, but Netto found it had been turned off. He felt sick, and didn't know why. "Papa... Why did you turn Rockman's PET off...?" His voice now audibly shook.

"I didn't turn it off, Netto... Maybe it went into Sleep Mode?"

"But... Rockman _was_ in Sleep Mode during class. This is **off**. Not _one_ light is on. There's no power at _all_, not even in a Standby Mode," Netto hit the power button, hoping to power the PET back up and find out what happened. But when he hit the button, _nothing_ happened. He was going to ask his father about it, but he caught sight of glowing digits on the man's wristwatch...

15:20...

...3:20 PM...?

That time... It meant something... but... he had no idea what... He tried the PET again, frantically.

"Rockman...? Rockman, please... I need you! Come on! Power up!" He repeatedly pressed the power button, but nothing was activating the PET. Netto started to cry. He feared his own stupidity had done something that couldn't be fixed. If Rockman had been in the PET when it went off, he was trapped there. If it wouldn't even power up into a basic mode, there was absolutely nothing he could do to bring it back online.

"Netto, calm down. I'm sure it's a simple--"

"Rock...man... Wake up... Please wake up... Please... Rockman...?" Netto clutched the blue PET against his chest tightly. His parents had no idea what to do. Netto wasn't acting at all rational about this. Yuuichirou couldn't seem to suggest he could fix the PET, and Netto seemed paranoid that it was gone.

...-_I pray the Lord my soul to take_-...  
--------------------------------  
TBC. XP

It's hard not to fall into a Stereotype with Enzan's father. XD;;; Ain't it?


	3. Akumu no Yume

.-Yume to Akumu-.

**Part III:** "_Akumu no Yume_" ("Dream's Nightmares")

* * *

A question began to haunt both boys' minds... It was a simple question, but it hadn't occurred to either of them before; there was no point... No reason to ask. But now...

...with no contact available between Navi and Operator...

It was becoming an almost necessary question to ask.

Aside from worrying about the ability to power up the PETs being gone...

"_Do Navi dream...? If they do... what is it they dream of...?_"

Yuuichirou shifted his position, and sat beside Netto. The brunette boy immediately clutched his father, crying...

But Enzan was alone. He could only comfort himself. He didn't even have his PET for the remote feeling of familiarity. His tears were silent. Everything felt like a strange place. A strange world. It took him too long to realize he couldn't keep going. The only way to get back what was rightfully his was to do what he was supposed to do... While he figured out a way to get the red device back no matter what it took...

**----------xXx----------**

Netto insisted on going home. He hoped that charging the PET would allow him to power it up in a little. He knew he'd be counting the minutes until the PET would hit full charge, but it would be best for Rockman that way. As they passed the cafe he usually saw Enzan at, he found the boy was missing from his usual seat... and it bugged him a little. However, his focuse went right back to his PET and his Navi. His friend was pushed to the back of his mind, but not forgotten. True to his word, the second they were inside the house, the boy ran upstairs to his room and put the blue PET on its charger. But he felt like he couldn't take his hands away from it... If he did, it might vanish. The 'Charging' light came on, and that still didn't change his mind. 

Still... it was stupid to stand here for an hour and stare at the blank PET... it would make him feel worse than he already did.

"Rockman... I promise... I'll make this up to you... somehow..." Netto slowly removed his fingers; one by one; until both hands had left the PET. It didn't disappear on him. Honestly, he knew it wouldn't, but he was afraid this was worse than a bad dream... It had begun to even surpass the definition of a 'nightmare'. He closed his eyes and turned, running back downstairs.

"Netto, I'm sure Rockman will be fine after the PET has been charged," Yuuichirou said, as he saw Netto slow to barely a walk, approaching the table. The boy sat at the table and lay his head on his arms.

"I hope so, Papa. I never meant to do this to Rockman... I didn't mean to let him get that low on--"

"It's alright, Netto. I know you didn't. Mama has told me how tired you've been the last two days. Has anything been happening that you haven't told us about?" Netto's head looked at his father, and blinked.

"What do you mean, Papa?"

"This isn't like you, Netto," Haruka replied, drawing Netto's attention to her. "You went off this morning without even taking toast before I could tell you that you need to actually eat breakfast more than once in a while... That's unusual for you."

"I'm sorry, Mama... I was later than usual this morning," Netto looked from his mother back to his father after a moment. "Papa...?"

"Yes?"

"Is it possible," Netto trailed off and looked at the table, shifting his position in his seat. "Do... Can... Nn... I don't know how to ask," Netto's cheeks tinged pink as he felt sort of stupid.

"What is it you want, Netto? I can't tell you if it's doable if you don't ask... right?"

"Right... but... I was meaning more along the lines of... Well," he bit his lip, and looked up, taking a breath to ask the question he thought was sort of stupid to ask his father, "Can Rockman dream?" However, his question was met with two strange looks from his parents, and silence. The brunette boy then blushed a bit brighter, but looked just slightly annoyed. "What?"

"Netto, that's... That's not really a question I thought I'd ever have to answer... The truth is; I don't know. It's never been brought up until now. I think that it would be _theoretically_ possible, but..."

"...But?"

"But no matter how human they seem, Net Navi are still; deep down, and based upon; data and code. I really don't know if it's possible for them to dream in the same way that we do if they would be able to at all," Yuuichirou explained; as gently, but 'thoroughly explained' as he could. Netto returned a sad smile to him. It was very close to being rueful...

"I never asked if he could _dream the same way as I do_... I only asked if he _could_ at all..."

"Then your answer would be... 'It's possible', Netto..."

"Thank you, Papa..."

**----------xXx----------**

Two hours had passed, and even with a Full Charge, the PET was not powering up. Yuuichirou offered to check the PET itself at the Labs, and Netto insisted he come with. Once more, they passed a place Netto usually found Enzan at... and found him missing. He began to wonder if he wasn't dreaming... since this wasn't anything like Enzan... not both places. 

Unless something was wrong...

But while Netto headed to the Labs with his father, Enzan had gotten to work on trying to satiate his. He felt completely numb, nearly everything he did for the last two hours was by automation, and anything that required serious concentration was put aside into a pile for when the rest was completed. That particular pile was only full of perhaps 4 items. The young Ijuuin took absolutely no notes of time. He only paid attention to the amount of things he had left to do. His original plan had failed. He could think of no way to find and retrieve the red PET that would not be caught onto by his father before he could finish it. It had also been about that time that he realized there wasn't one person at IPC _except_ for Blues that Ijuuin Enzan knew he could **fully** trust. _Everyone_ answered to his father. Asking anyone in this building about Blues' PET would be as dangerous as asking Ijuuin Shuuseki himself to hand it over. If his father was in the wrong mood, Blues could wind up damaged... and that was not a risk Enzan was openly willing to take...

...Well... more like... it wouldn't be the path he would _willingly choose_.

It was this almost _bullet train_ of thought that led Enzan to realize he was getting nowhere, very fast. He began making himself do the work he knew took little to know thought. Before long, he was moving at a decent speed, his mind still working; but only enough to focus on the work in front of him. If he allowed a thought of Blues or his PET, he'd never get anywhere and he was already stuck in plans to retrieve it. He hadn't forgotten the PET nor his Navi. In fact, it's Blues that made him decide to start this in the first place. He could truly argue with his father if he did what was asked of him to regain the PET. If his father refused to keep his word, he would be able to say he did what was asked and have more ground to demand Blues' return.

And Enzan was determined to do it before 10 o'clock tonight. That was the time he last remembered seeing the clock the night before when he fell asleep; the night before. As he flipped through a folder, he was snapped from his nearly-automatic mode when something read completely wrong on the pages within.

"This is...?" Enzan blinked, staring at the paper for a minute, before he flipped to the next page to find a rather well-; but obviously 'swiftly'; -drawn floor plan/layout. It detailed his father's office, for one. But though he knew what the office looked like, the small, red marking on the quick floor plan drew his attention. It was Blues' symbol in red ink. As he stared at the symbol, he realized his earlier; rather firm; belief that no one could be trusted because of his father... was just shattered. He flipped back to the note, and couldn't figure out why this snapped him out of his half-trance state. Then he realized. A business document written in red ink, and used more like a scrap paper versus black or blue ink and filled in remotely correctly. And he thought he saw what had kept him from setting it aside with the other items that required more concentration.

'Blues' was written bigger than everything else on the sheet and seemed to have been gone over and over with the pen about 60 times. That's hard for anyone that looks at the page to have missed. But getting back on track... Enzan pulled the floor plan of his father's office, and stared once more at the symbol drawn on it. It didn't look traced. It was obviously quick, but too well-drawn to have been done while standing in the office _with_ his father. It also seemed like whoever drew the symbol was sure of where to draw it without thinking about it; as well as having been done nearly perfect with how it looked.

Only two people would have the knowledge of the floor plans of the building, be able to access his father's office, and knew Blues' symbol well enough to have no hesitation in drawing the symbol even as simple as it was.

The two Security Guards that had come with his father into this office earlier...

But were they both in on this...? Or had one seen just enough to decide to help?

And would he dare ask the question to either of them?

"Blues..." Enzan whispered, lightly running a fingertip over the spot on the layout where his Navi was marked as residing. He memorized it rather swiftly... and in a moment, he shoved the entire thing through a paper shredder...

...twice.

Then calmly left the office in search of Blues and his PET. Hoping that knowing his father left early today to be somewhere important that he'd left his office unattended completely...

A figure watched Enzan head quietly; but swiftly; down the hallway, and smiled. The kind of smile that looked rather proud... or satisfied... but not really evil.

**----------xXx----------**

At the Labs, Yuuichirou ran every test he could think of. However, nothing was coming back unusual. The only thing that remained constant was... no matter the method of doing it, the PET refused to power on at all. It was as if it just didn't **want** to come on. 

But that was impossible...

...right?

"Netto... Nothing is wrong with the PET... The batteries are fine. The circuitry is intact and working perfectly. The buttons are not broken," Yuuichirou began to go through the list of tests he'd run, but Netto interrupted him.

"Is Rockman alright?"

"Well... from what I can tell in all this data, Rockman is also fine."

"Inside the PET...?"

"Inside the PET."

"Tr...Trapped inside the PET...?"

"Netto... Rockman is just fine. He's simply been put into Suspension until the PET is able to be powered back up. His data is intact, he's still functional..." Yuuichirou looked at the face Netto was giving the PET... and felt a twinge of guilt... He then added, "And he feels nothing, Netto. I promise." Netto closed his eyes and nodded. He said nothing in reply to his father's words.. though it did appear to relieve some of the tension on his face...

"Rockman... I'm... sorry..."

**----------xXx----------**

Enzan had come up with something in his walk. He'd knock on his father's office door, and if the man answered, he had a simple question he could ask and get back to his own office without worry. But he if didn't... he would enter and look as fast as he could. He felt fortunate, however, as he did not receive an answer to his knock. He opened the door himself, to find that the room looked empty aside from normal furniture, and darkness from lack of lighting or windows. 

'Where are you... Blues...?' Enzan thought, and looked around the room, recalling the small mark's location on the floor plan... But matching that up to what was actually there seemed harder than he thought it should be. He recalled the plan, and tried to position himself on that image, then moved himself to where he thought he remembered the mark being at. If he'd gotten it _right_, Blues' PET was in his father's desk.

And this just added a whole new problem he hadn't thought of.

"Damnit..." Enzan clenched his fists, and looked to the drawers of the large, black desk that stood before him. If the PET was on, it wouldn't be much trouble to find it... but he knew his father would never bother powering it up... However, there had to be security on the drawers. The man kept too much within his desk for there not to be any kind of protection; even just a simple, locked drawer. Still... he came _this_ far...

Opening drawers wasn't going to make it any worse than it already would be. He silently apologized as he prayed that he could get the PET and leave as fast as possible. The first three drawers yielded nothing more than IPC-related work or information. The next two were locked... and the last one on the right side seemed jammed more than locked. He could open it about an inch, but no farther. He could barely see by the light from the hall, and cursed himself for being stupid enough to not bring any source of light.

But he'd know his own PET if he were _blind_. He chanced the reach into the space with his fingers, and bumped into an object about the right size... He then felt for distinguishing characteristics, and found it easily... The very tip of his longest finger was able to feel the slightly raised Navi Emblem on the end of the PET. A small smile appeared on his face, but it wasn't a full one yet... That would come when he was holding the device in his palm again. Because at least then he could work on the next problem of powering the PET up.

The only thing was, he couldn't un-jam the drawer... and he couldn't reach any farther in without basically allowing himself to get _stuck_ that way. There was no guarantee he could reach what was jamming the drawer, and he couldn't pull the PET out with his hand even if he could manage a good grip on it. While trying to decide, he heard footsteps in the hall, and jerked, slipping his hand; up to the palm; into the drawer. Enzan winced, feeling a sharp pain on the back of his hand. He felt like a complete idiot...but he was almost there now. He pushed forward, ignoring the burning feeling from the back of his hand, and felt around as best he could. He then felt lucky... as he found the edge of a file folder that was way out of place, and seemed too tight to be laying in there wrong. He'd probably wind up ripping it, but the footsteps were getting louder, he could feel his PET, and his hand hurt like hell.

'C'mon...' Enzan thought, and pulled at the folder repeatedly. He heard paper tear, then felt the folder come loose, and the drawer that bound his hand at the wrist now slid open. The boy grabbed the PET; that sat as if it had been thrown; and moved to close the drawer. However, he stopped when he saw a reflection of the hallway light hit the metal of a rather small picture frame. It too appeared to have been haphazardly tossed into this drawer. It wasn't much bigger than the PET was. The footsteps were almost at the door to Shuuseki's office now... Enzan made a quick decision. He took both the frame **and** the PET, closed the drawer, and bolted to the only part of the office that usually isn't looked into... so far as he knew. The closet on the far side of the office. One which Shuuseki apparently rarely used for anything but sparse storage.

'There's no reason for me to be in Otousan's office at this hour. Especially in the dark... with my hand in one of his desk drawers... I don't know who's coming. I'm guessing Security. They saw the open door,' Enzan had to shake his head hard to try and stop his rather swift train of thought. He clutched both items to his chest, and carefully peeked through a crack in the door... He saw a rather tall figure checking the office carefully, and when Enzan saw him heading over towards where he was, he shifted to be hidden behind as much as possible, clutching the PET against his chest, and the frame he'd taken beside him. He didn't think he could fit in such a small space, but he was sure he wouldn't be seen if the door was opened.

And he was right.

Though he forgot he had held his breath when the door was opened swiftly. But he never heard the door shut... and was too afraid to try and take a breath. The sound might be too loud in the silence that hung in the small space.

In truth, the guard that had been sent up the hall to check the open door was the one that put the marked floor plan into Enzan's work pile. He knew it would be strange enough to make Enzan pay attention no matter what. What he was looking for now was a sign that it was indeed Enzan in the room, and not anyone else. Enzan had hidden himself too well; but if it wasn't the boy, he didn't want to let anyone else off the hook so easily.

The answer came when Enzan's brain needed to get oxygen to his lungs. He'd held his breath too long. The boy coughed, but tried to keep it as silent as possible when he released what he'd been holding, and took another; deep; breath in.

'Damnit,' Enzan cursed silently to himself. The guard shut the door behind him, and cautiously approached the source of the cough. He spied just a piece of white hair, and took the chance that he'd been right.

"Vice President?" His reply; initially; was to see said hair jerk lightly as the body attached to it did the same. Enzan realized he wasn't getting out of this, and composed himself. Enough to glance up without emotion in his blue eyes. But that was unnecessary... "Vice President... I hope you managed to find Blues..." This was said with a small smile, that made Enzan blink in confusion. The boy looked to the PET in his hands as he pulled it away from his chest.

"You...? You're the one...? But..." Enzan looked at the poor man almost suspiciously, "Why?"

"Because I saw what the President did, and I know how he can be. However, you took a chance leaving that door open, Vice President," the guard replied, smiling lightly... up until he told Enzan he took a chance.

"I hadn't expected to run into any trouble getting Blues back," Enzan admitted.

"That's not like you..."

"I... I know... Being unprepared isn't something I do... hiding isn't something I usually do... But then... Otousan's never taken Blues from me before... I don't understand it, but I'm sorry I got anyone else involved," Enzan's voice slowly lost its emotion, but never went completely cold.

"I got _myself_ involved. Too many others are simply scared of the President. If no one is willing to go against him, there's no point to half of the system," the guard explained. He smiled again as Enzan looked at him strangely. "After all. I'm sure he doesn't want a company full of Yes-Men... He doesn't seem the type that would want no challenges in business." Enzan blinked again, then looked down to his PET. His voice seemed half the volume and completely different tone than it had been a moment ago.

"It all depends on who's challenging him... and for what..."

**----------xXx----------**

Enzan feared going home that night. After leaving his father's office, and working just a bit more on the pile he had waiting in his own, he left the IPC building via the route that would let him see the least amount of people. His destination was clearer than 'anywhere but home'. His only thought was to see Hikari Netto. As much as he hated the thought of trying to explain why his PET wouldn't come on... if anyone could figure out the answer, it was Netto's father; Hikari Yuuichirou. And to see _him_ **usually** meant seeing Netto. However... a block away from IPC, Enzan realized he wasn't sure where Netto and or Yuuichirou would be. At home, or the Science Labs. He looked down to the screen of his PET, and found it was still off. He closed his eyes, and thought for a moment... 

'If Hikari-hakase is at the Labs, that doesn't mean that Netto would be with him... And if Netto isn't with him, it's late, and Netto should be at home... However if he's having trouble as well and it isn't just Blues that can't be powered up, he'd be with his father at the Labs. Still... there's the fact he could have let Hikari-hakase take Rockman to the Labs to test by himself and he stayed at home...' Enzan stopped thinking and opened his eyes; letting out a sigh. "I have a better chance of finding him at home than I do at the Labs. Even if it **is** just Blues... My best chance is to contact Hikari-hakase... even if it means going through Netto," Enzan looked up, trying to orient himself enough to figure the shortest path to Netto's.

It took him a good 15 minutes to do so. Something he didn't realize... since there was no way of telling time without the PET, nor from his position on the street. He took off towards the Hikari residence as fast as he could, once he managed to figure the route.

It only took maybe 20 minutes at best... at a medium pace. Once there, however, he realized how out of breath he was, and wondered how. He wasn't out of shape, and that certainly wasn't half the city he just covered. He was also feeling hesitant about announcing his presence all of a sudden.

That was taken care of a moment later when Yuuichirou and Netto pulled up; having come home for the night. Enzan turned to find that Netto was completely dazed. He stared at something; possibly in his lap; and hadn't seen the white-haired boy in front of his door. Yuuichirou did, however. And drew Netto's attention momentarily... after he yelled for Enzan; as he got out of the car.

"Enzan-kun?"

"Hikari-hakase!" Enzan called in reply, knowing now that leaving wasn't on the list of options. Netto got out as well, rather dejectedly. The object he gave all of his attention to was his blue PET in his hands. Yuuichirou looked to his son; worry painted across his face the moment he did.

"Netto... I told you... Don't be so worried... Rockman is fine," Yuuichirou repeated the same thing he had told the boy the entire trip home. Netto's reply had always been the same, but had been slowly getting more and more upset. This time, he snapped his reply.

"But I can't get to him! You said it yourself! There's no way to power up the PET and Rockman is trapped in it!" Netto felt tears in his eyes once more, but his attention was drawn by a rather concerned Enzan breaking into the conversation. His voice showing more emotion than Netto was used to.

"Rockman... isn't waking up either...? Blues... Blues hasn't..."

"Enzan...?" Obviously, Netto was more distracted than it had looked if he hadn't heard his father yell for the other boy when he did...

"Blues is still off as well?" Yuuichirou sounded confused. This wasn't just a matter of Netto's PET malfunctioning or not charging right... not if Enzan was having the same problem. "Let me see the PETs...?" He held his hands out, and both boys willingly turned them over. Yuuichirou couldn't even get a beep from the PETs... He tried every button, and even gently shook both of them to hear if something was perhaps physically broken that couldn't be found with computer scans. He shook his head, and looked to the two blank PET screens. Then to the two boys. "Come on. I'll take a better look inside," Yuuichrou motioned for Enzan to enter first; and he obliged.

"Papa, you said there's nothing wrong with--"

"But if Blues is also unable to be powered up, it might have something to do with the two of them," Yuuichirou replied.

"Netto! Papa! Welcome home!" Haruka called. She looked to see the third person with them and blinked; then smiled happily. "Enzan-kun! Welcome! Get comfy, I was making a late meal for Papa and Netto! I'll add another setting for you."

"That's alright, Hikari-san... I don't-"

"Nonsense! You'll eat!" Haruka smiled and hurried did as she said she would... Without allowing Enzan a chance to argue with her... The boy sighed to himself, and leaned back in the chair.

'And so my crazy dream continues...' Enzan mused to himself.

"Papa? Do you think... Rockman and Blues... are dreaming?"

"Netto I answered that before we left and again at the Labs," Yuuichirou looked at his son oddly. Netto shook his head.

"I meant... together. Is it possible for them to dream the same thing?"

"Ne..tto...?" Enzan blinked. This wasn't the Netto he thought he knew...

"What's gotten into you?" Yuuichirou asked.

"Nothing!" Netto sounded upset, and stood up from the table. "Excuse me, I'm going to my room," Netto looked almost ready to cry, and bolted from the table. Enzan stood up, but that pulled his sleeve up from over his hand, and made Haruka grab his arm before he could follow.

"What happened to your hand, Enzan-kun?" Enzan froze, and looked back at the woman that held onto his arm.

"I..." He looked at his hand. It'd been dark all the times he looked at it since he retrieved Blues from his father's desk. Now that he could see it in the light, it really did look worse than it probably was. "It's nothing... Hikari-sa--"

"Nothing? It looks like someone tried to take your hand off! Come on, we'll clean this up first!"

"But--" Enzan's protest was cut short, as he found himself dragged over to the kitchen sink, and cold water was run over the back of his hand. He winced the second soap hit it, though. Haruka didn't seem to pay any attention to his bit of wriggling, and she was stronger than she looked. He couldn't get his hand free from the woman's grip even with _soap_ helping him. A long gash was revealed on the back of his hand. It was rough and; due to the scrubbing; was once more bleeding. Yuuichirou appeared beside his wife with a blue first aid kit. Enzan sighed and stopped his protesting, but winced every time Haruka ran her hand over his wound.

"There," Haruka started to wrap a bandage around Enzan's hand, which worked almost identically to when the woman was running her hand over the back of his; cleaning his wound. "Stop fidgeting, it'll take less time that way!" Haruka scolded. Enzan blinked, freezing in place. He looked at Netto's mother... rather confused.

"I'm... sorry..."

"All finished," Haruka smiled at him. "No need to be, Enzan-kun," she ruffled his hair, which made him blush. He nodded, and pulled his bandaged hand from her grip.

"Thank you," Enzan made sure to say... before he hurried after Netto upstairs...

"I think you embarrassed him."

"Nonsense. He's fine." Haruka smiled, and went back to finishing her cooking. Yuuichirou blinked... and went back to trying to figure out the mystery of the PETs...

**----------xXx----------**

The sound of a light knocking echoed through a once silent room. No reply was given, though it didn't stop the door from opening. The light from a PET Screen worked as a nightlight to guide the figure that entered through the door that had been knocked upon. A figure that appeared to be dressed in a hospital gown and slippers crept quietly over to the lighted screen of the PET in its cradle... on a table beside another figure on a bed... 

"Blues...?"

"Hikari Netto...?" The PET replied, quietly.

"Blues... are you alright?"

"You shouldn't be here... it's 3:25 AM."

"I know. That's exactly why I'm here. Is Enzan awake?"

"He'd have hit you with the bedside table by now if he was..."

"...Good point."

"Seriously... Why are you here?"

"I woke up 5 minutes ago."

"And...?"

"It took me 5 minutes to get to Enzan's room, damnit. It's a long hall when you're avoiding nurses!"

"Why did you bother?"

"Blues, please. This is serious. Enzan should be awake now and he's not. Doesn't this bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me that Enzan-sama hasn't woken up! What I don't understand is why you're here because of it!"

"Blues..." Netto picked up the PET from the cradle on the bedside table. Finally, both could see each other well enough. Netto's face was awash with concern and fear. Blues was refusing to look at the PET Screen... the moment he was removed from the cradle, he'd turned away. "You know something, don't you..."

"...I..."

"Blues... It might help Enzan..."

"I know... And I know how badly... Enzan-sama was hurt... It's just... It's worse than they think... To them, he's just an unusual case... But..."

"If it'll help them make him better... why won't you tell them what happened?"

"I can't!" Blues snapped his reply to the brunette that held his PET. He'd finally looked at the screen... Even with the visor covering his eyes, it was obvious whatever it was that Blues knew about Enzan's injuries upset him very much. Netto had never seen Blues act this way.

"..._Why_?" Netto's gentle; but firmly asked; question received no reply from the red PET. The Navi within it fell silent, and looked, once more, away from the screen. Netto saw him bite his lip as he did.

"It... I couldn't... I couldn't do a single thing... I just listened... I watched... I monitored. I couldn't stop it, I couldn't help Enzan-sama, and I couldn't get help for him. If I'd have left the PET to find help, Enzan-sama could have--" Blues stopped. His voice had cracked on the last word. Netto knew the one that would have followed it...

"Blues... I'm... I'm sorry..." He couldn't really say anything else. Blues' face showed more emotion than he was used to from the red Navi...

"I didn't..." Blues stammered. He had so much trouble trying to form words. It was starting to scare Netto. "I didn't think... the sight of blood would... would affect me so much... but... I honestly thought... I thought... E-Enzan...sama..."

"But... Blues... I thought--"

"Have you ever heard him scream?" Netto froze at the Navi's question. "Hikari Netto? Have you ever heard Enzan-sama scream?"

"I... think..."

"Can you sit still and let whatever has made him scream continue to go on?"

"No."

"That's because you're in the same reality as he is. You can help him if he's in danger. In pain. You're not confined to a small device without any way of assisting him. You...," he trailed off... and looked down. "You have no idea what it's like to hear him scream... hear him cry... watch things happen to him... and be unable to do anything about it... That... That Garauss..." He paused...and clenched his fists tightly, though Netto couldn't see that... "That virus attacked Enzan-sama. I saw fear in his eyes. If he hadn't made it to the IPC building when he did... no matter how he got inside... He... He..."

"Blues... I don't... understand..."

"I saw so much... blood... Enzan-sama... With nothing I could do... but watch..." He sounded as if he were trying not to cry... or holding back a fit of rage... "I can't leave him alone when he's hurt..."

"Blues..."

"Netto-kun?" Rockman appeared beside Blues in his PET, looking to find his Op staring back. The little blue Navi didn't seem all that surprised. Blues did, however, and shifted to step away from Rockman.

"Rockman!" Netto seemed surprised as well...

"Why did you leave the PET in your room? You scared me when I found you were missing!"

"I'm sorry... Rockman..." Netto looked away from the PET screen. The little blue Navi sighed, and looked to Blues beside him. It was only then he realized that the red Navi seemed to be trying to avoid him.

"Blues...? What's wrong...?"

"Nothing, Rockman..."

"_Something_ is. You don't avoid me lik-"

"I'm not avoiding you!"

"Blues, you're on the other side of the screen from my position. Even I can tell you are," Netto interjected. Blues gave Netto a glare that he didn't need to see to feel. Netto blushed a little, but he looked over to his own Navi. "Rockman... I'm sure Blues will be fine; given a little time... With Enzan in the hospital, it's just gotten to him."

"Hikari!"

"Isn't it true, Blues?" Rockman asked... believing his Op's words over Blues' protest. Blues turned his head to look over at the blue Navi... who was patiently waiting on an answer.

"I..." Blues glanced quickly over to Netto; through the PET screen. His visor hiding his action... He then looked back to Rockman... "Y-Yes... Rockman..."

"Netto-kun, you should get back to your room before the nurses come hunting for you," Rockman sounded worried, thought he kept staring at Blues... something was off...

"I know, I know... I'm going," Netto grumbled, and put the red PET back into the cradle beside Enzan's bed. After doing that, he took a look at the figure on the bed. He could barely make out the other boy's features. The dim light in the room made it near impossible. And Netto's eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness again yet since staring at the lighted PET screen. He didn't need to see clearly to be able to tell Enzan was hurt rather badly. He could see the color of the white bandages wrapped around different areas. But what stood out were the ones around his arm... They were wrapped from the boy's hand up to near his elbow... and it made Netto wince lightly. Even unconscious, the features of Enzan's face seemed to be speaking that he was in pain. The more his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the less he wanted to keep staring at the boy on the bed. It made him feel worse in the fact that he'd been sleeping at school when this all happened to his friend.

"Netto-kun?"

"I'm... going... Rockman..." Netto hurriedly turned his head, and moved towards the door, taking one last glace back to Enzan before slipping onto the darkened hallway.

Rockman turned to leave the PET, but Blues grabbed his arm before he could. The blue navi turned to look at the red one in confusion.

"Rockman, I want you to do one little favor for me."

"A... favor?"

"Yes. When you go back to your PET I want you to monitor EVERYTHING from your Op. Watch Netto carefully. Pay attention to everything," Blues seemed very serious about this.

"I always watch-"

"EVERYTHING, Rockman. Extended Bio Readouts and Detailed Stats. By the time you get back, Netto will be tired again."

"I wish I knew why that was..."

"Watch him and you'll see exactly what it is."

"Blues...?"

"Enzan-sama has the same anomaly in his Bio Readouts. I found it when I brought up details. But the nurses and doctors would never believe me if I showed it to them. They keep saying they've looked at everything. They haven't," Blues half-trailed off. Rockman blinked.

"What am I looking for exactly with Netto-kun?"

"You'll know it when you see it, Rockman," Blues replied, "Trust me."

"Why haven't you made the doctors and nurses see it?"

"Because only someone who's seen normal Bios would know what's wrong. I can't compare these for them to see. To them... it is normal. But to me... Enzan-sama..."

"Is... Is it seri-"

"Not really, but it's affecting them both. I know you'll see something similar for Netto... It's the only explanation. Please hurry back to your PET... and monitor your Op closely. When he slips back into sleep, you'll see what it is that I found."

"Blues, I'm confused."

"Please, Rockman, just believe me and hurry," Blues lightly pushed Rock to the Link out of his PET. "Just Direct Link me when you see it... if you want to."

"...Right... Blues..." Rockman looked at the red Navi for a good minute before he left the PET, hurrying back over the hospital network to his own PET... sitting beside his Op; Netto...

**----------xXx----------**

The brunette boy, Hikari Netto... couldn't seem to sleep at all. Rockman waited patiently, but never found that his Op was restful enough to sleep at all. He'd given up, but never stopped monitoring the boy, regardless. He heard Netto moan and grumble something about the bed. Doubtful that was the reason, he finally spoke up. 

"Netto-kun, the bed is fine. But if you can't relax, you won't sleep."

"Rockman... I already see sunlight. I know it's nearly morning. And this stupid bed isn't really all that comfortable. It's not 'fine'," Netto replied, staring at the ceiling.

"Maybe you should ask a nurse for something to help you calm down?"

"Why do I need to calm down? I'm not allowed to be worried at all?"

"I never said that..."

"Rockman," Netto said; as he sat up, placing his hands in his lap; staring at them.

"Netto-kun?"

"Blues is scared."

"Eh?"

"He saw something... horrible... happen to Enzan... Something he won't specify. I've never seen him act like he did."

"But he's always a bit avoidant..."

"No. He snapped at me."

"But _Enzan_ does that...?" Rockman didn't understand what it was that Netto was trying to say. He could barely hear the boy's next words.

"Not like this..."

_"Have you ever heard Enzan-sama scream?"  
_:_I... think..."  
"Can you sit still and let whatever has made him scream continue to go on?"  
"No."_

"I want to know exactly what happened to Enzan while I was at school..."

"I can look, but I don't think I'll find much more than you already know, Netto-kun," Rockman bit his lip as he offered. Netto shook his head, though... declining the offer.

"I want to hear it from them."

"Netto-kun..."

"It's always best to hear from the source. Who better to tell me what happened than Enzan or Blues?"

"But... I-It could be... days... before Enzan's... recovered enough... to tell you anything... Netto-kun," Rockman had heard the nurses speaking while Netto was asleep.

"Days? Rockman... Do... Do you know... exactly what happened?"

"Not... exactly... no... Just... that he'd already taken damage... during a battle with viruses. But the Dimensional Area was cut before he could finish... and he was attacked by a Garauss... Security at IPC managed to lure it into an empty; small Board Room until it could be dealt with. After which Enzan was rushed here. Did... Blues... tell you _anything_...?" The blue Navi looked at Netto... almost shyly. Netto took a deep breath, closing his eyes when he breathed in, the looking to his Navi after he breathed out.

"He said... he saw... a lot of blood. That it... _bothered_ him more than he thought... Maybe there really isn't any more to it... but... it seems like Blues doesn't want to talk about it at all," Netto looked back to the bed; and his hands. "And that just makes me think there's something else to all this..."

mew

"Netto-kun?"

"Rockman?"

purr...

"Tell me that sound's from the PET?"

"I was hoping you were just being very strange, Netto-kun..."

"If I wanted to be _strange_, I'd probably **moo**, not _meow_, Rockman," Netto shifted, trying to look around his bed for the source of the noise. Though he could think of the obvious source... it just didn't make _sense_ in a hospital. That was answered when a small, black shape leapt onto the bed from the foot, and walked up to Netto. "Well... um... hello...?" He blinked, and reached his hand out for the cat to sniff. It did so... and then it purred happily, nuzzling the boy's hand.

"Netto-kun... be careful..." Rockman bit his lip, and brought up another screen beside Netto's Vitals. Something didn't seem right, and he was going to find out what it was.

"It probably just snuck in when someone had a door open, Rockman," Netto smiled, lightly, and moved to pet the cat from head to tail. It meowed again, apparently happy. The Navi wasn't in agreement... it was now he started to notice something odd. Was this what Blues mentioned...?

...If that was so, why was he able to see and hear the cat as well?

'No... this... the readout... The cat...? But this doesn't make sense...' Rockman kept staring at the second screen he'd pulled up as he thought. He brought up another, sliding his fingertips over the surface swiftly and scanning through something.

"Hey now... What is it you smell? Quit it!" Netto sounded to be half giggling, and this pulled the blue Navi's attention over to his Op. The cat was standing on its back paws, the front ones on Netto's chest... and licking the boy's cheek; tail flicking madly. It was now; with a bit of sunlight entering the window; that Rockman noted a collar on the animal's neck.

"Netto-kun! The cat has a collar! Maybe you can see who it belongs to?"

"What good -quit!- would that do, Rockman? They're not going to letme waltz out of here with -That tickles!- the cat no matter what my excuse. Oi!" Netto had to take hold of the animal; lightly; to calm it down from trying to climb up onto his shoulders.

"Still. You could tell them who it belongs to..."

"Fine, fine... I'll look," Netto shifted the animal, and tried to peek at the tag on the collar. The cat wriggled quite a bit when he touched the tag. "What's the matter, kitty?" Netto petted its head as he moved the collar to look at the tag better. All he found was a rather pretty little holographic image. No info on either side, however... Just the same 'picture' on both sides. A single kanji character done in a 3D Hologram.

'yume'

"Netto-kun? Find anything?"

"...'Yume'...? Is that your name?" the cat mewed softly in reply. Netto took it as a yes. Rockman wasn't so sure...

"So the cat's name means 'dream'?"

"I see you've found him for me, Hikari Netto," a female's voice softly called from the door. How she got in without Netto hearing wasn't exactly clear. But Rockman was confused why he also hadn't heard her. She seemed nice enough, though...

"Yume is your kitty? Why do you have him in a hospital?" Netto blinked... the cat hadn't budged from its new position of lying in the boy's lap.

"I snuck him in to visit my dad. He loves this cat and I thought a small visit with Yume might make him feel better even if it doesn't help him get better," the young woman replied. Netto looked at the pure, black cat curled up on his lap.

"Um... How exactly... do you know my name?"

"It's written on the door outside your room," she blushed as she replied. Netto did the same. He never really thought of that... after all, Enzan's name is outside of _his_... It's how he found the exact room the other boy was in...

"Netto-kun... Just let her have Yume and she can go visit her father," Rockman sounded... almost... _eager_... to get this animal away from his Op... He also remembered something and went back to the two screens he was working with before Netto had distracted him. He added one more to the equation... This one obviously meant to check out the girl with Netto. Though Rock managed to shove that one out of direct view of the PET screen...

"I thought Visiting Hours didn't start until mid-morning?" Netto watched the girl sit on the edge of his bed; staring at her cat in the boy's lap.

"My dad's terminally ill. I went home to get a change of clothes and something to eat... and to bring Yume back with me."

"I'm sorry... I didn't... mean to..."

"No. It's fine. You didn't know," she smiled at Netto, reassuringly. "But your Navi's right. I should probably get going," she reached to remove the cat from Netto's lap and it hissed at her.

"Yume!"

"Maybe she's just comfortable...?" Netto stared at the cat... Its claws were dug into the blanket that was over his bare legs. He could just barely feel the tips of them against his leg. "It's alright, calm down...?"

"Netto-kun?" Rockman asked, speeding his pace up a little... He wasn't liking this feeling he had... and he direct linked to Blues' PET; moving the screen aside. As soon as Blues accepted it, he found the blue Navi working faster than usual among three screens with a 4th obviously displaying Netto's vitals. The red Navi immediately knew something wasn't right.

"Rockman...? What's-"

"Blues, something's very off and I can't figure it out," Rockman replied, without looking to him. Blues blinked behind his visor...

"How do you mean?"

"Netto-kun couldn't sleep, and... this cat- ...the cat... that collar...?" Rockman had apparently lost it... Blues; obviously; didn't have a clue what he was talking about. That didn't make him want to kill the connection... not with how scared Rockman obviously looked. "There's a layer of something under the holographic sticker. That woman... isn't scanning right either."

"Aren't you a little overly paranoid about all this, Rockman?"

"No. Netto-kun's bio readouts aren't making any sense since she's walked in. They started acting a little strange when the cat showed up. I thought it was just a little fear from knowing nothing about where the animal came from, but they've gotten worse since... Blues... Netto-kun shouldn't even still be awake if this is accurate..."

"...I'm beginning to think something is affecting the PETs as well as our Ops, Rockman..."

"I'm inclined to agree... I-"

The sound of Netto crying out in pain interrupted the Navi's discussion. Rockman instantly turned to look out of the PET screen, and seemed shocked by what he saw. Blues, however, was hesitant to ask what made Rockman's face look the way it did... Was he sure he really wanted to know?

"Netto-kun?"

"I'm alright... Rockman... just an upset... cat... Ow..."

"I'm sorry! He didn't mean it! Did you, Yume-kun?" The woman's voice sounded sort of apologetic... but...

"Blues... there's... nothing wrong... with the PET... I was... scanning... for the wrong... thing..." Rockman stared at the second screen, having flipped it over accidentally when Netto had cried out. Blues started to ask what Rockman meant, but the blue Navi yelled to his Op and answered the question..."Netto-kun! Move away from her! She's a Navi!"

"A Navi...?" Blues mumbled, confused... Netto, however, froze, and looked at his PET.

"A Navi! Rockman, are you feeling alright?" The boy still cradled the hand that the cat had bitten. Said cat was on the windowsill, still growling and flipping its tail back and forth; highly annoyed.

"Your Navi takes after you in all your _annoying_ traits as well, I see. Such as always poking your nose where it doesn't belong..."

"What...?" Netto shifted, pushing himself back on the bed; away from the 'girl'. Rockman noted the sudden racing in the boy's heart rate. The first normal reading he'd seen since the girl appeared. This explained why no one heard her come in the door.

...She didn't...

Netto yelped as she snatched and pulled his wrist; pushing against the animal's bite. Rockman once more called out; sounding scared, but was ignored; for the most part. Netto found himself now being held around the throat with the girl's other arm. That was his first priority. Release himself. He knew his Navi couldn't help him unless he could at least get to the PET itself first anyway.

"Haven't you ever noticed that dreams mirror reality...? Or that your deepest; most hidden desire is easily attainable while you sleep? Dreams are wonderful things to watch, you know..."

"Let... go...!"

"I will... As soon as I find what it is that you want the most... What is it you dream of... Hikari Netto...?"

"Stop it? Let go!" Netto sounded very close to terrified. Then again, he couldn't get free and this position was hardly unfamiliar...

"Netto-kun!"

"Rockman, what's happening?" Blues also sounded a bit scared. But that was because he could only see the blue Navi's reaction to something happening outside the PET... and wondered how he had looked when Enzan had been attacked...

"Stop it!" Rockman yelled; a bit high-pitched; from the PET. Blues only winced at the pitch, not what the Navi had done. Neither of them had to wait long before they heard Netto cry out again; along with a rather loud thump near the PET. Rockman looked to have jumped. Blues looked from the link screen to his own Op; biting his lip. He contemplated leaving his PET through the Hospital Network and getting to Rockman's PET. But that may take a few moments... After hearing Rockman once more beg this 'girl' Navi to stop and leave Netto alone, Blues'd had enough. He'd already been unable to do anything for Enzan... He may not be able to do anything for Netto, but he can damn well do something for Rockman. Two seconds later, he linked out to the network and headed for the other Navi as fast as he could.

**----------xXx----------**

The door opened slowly, the top of white hair peeked in to a dimly lit room. Finding the computer screen on, but no sound coming from the computer itself, the boy attached to said hair shifted to step into the room; carefully. 

"Netto...?" Enzan asked, softly. He received no reply... though he could plainly see the boy lying face down on his bed. "Netto..." Finally he heard what sounded like a sniffle. "Netto, I'm... I'm sure Rockman and Blues...are fine..."

"You're scared too...Enzan," another sniffle followed his words. Enzan shifted, and put his hands in his jacket pockets. The moment he did, he bumped the small frame he'd taken along with the PET from his father's desk. But he didn't pull it out yet... right now he should get Netto calmed down...

"That doesn't mean I don't believe they'll be alright, Netto."

"Are you sure...?"

"I'm sure," Enzan replied, softly. To this, Netto shifted, and sat cross-legged on his bed; wiping at his eyes. He didn't look up to the other boy.

"Enzan... It's my fault... I didn't... I didn't charge the PET... I fell asleep... and now..."

"Netto..."

"I mean it!" Netto looked up at Enzan... to find the older boy biting his lip. "Enzan...?"

"I didn't charge Blues' PET either... but I don't believe that's what it is," Enzan trailed off... the boy looked tired. Netto shifted, and got up off the bed to stand in front of him.

"You haven't been sleeping that well, have you."

"What?"

"You look tired."

"And you look like hell, but I don't just blurt that out from nowhere," Enzan blushed, and took a step back.

"No... I mean... What's been going on with you, Enzan? How long... How long have you been able to sleep at night?"

"N-Not... lon- Netto, why does it matter!" Enzan's blush deepened, and he looked annoyed. Netto backed up a step.

"Because I haven't either, Enzan..."

"Eh?"

"I have trouble getting to sleep and when I do, I don't get to sleep that well... nor that long," Netto looked up to Enzan's face, curiously. "Do you think it might have a link to what's happened to the PETs?"

"I... I don't... know... Netto... Ow," Enzan winced... the frame poked the back of his hand, and it made him pull said hand from his pocket. The bandages were already tinted red; but he had assumed that would have been from when Netto's mother had wrapped it for him after making it do such a thing again.

"What happened?"

"I... hurt myself... at work... it's nothing, Netto."

"Nothing? You're still bleeding..."

"Your mother did that when she _insisted_ she take care of it," Enzan grumbled, and held his hand against his chest with a little pressure on the back of it. He blinked, before he realized that Netto was all but holding him up now...

"You should sit down... I think it may be worse than you thought..."

"This... this is ridiculous...I-I'm fine..."

"You look pale, Enzan," Netto said, softly. He pulled gently, trying to get Enzan to sit on his bed. Despite attempts to protest, the boy found himself sitting on top of the the blue blanket there. Only once he sat did he feel a bit dizzy. did he really hurt himself that badly? Or... was the lack of sleep combined with the injury catching up with him...?

"Netto... I..."

"Stay here... I'll get a glass of water," Netto bit his lip and hurried from the room. Enzan could _not_ figure out what water had to do with anything... but he decided now may be a good time to check that frame... and carefully removed it from his jacket pocket. Once he did, he froze upon seeing what picture was in it. A moment later, his face shifted from one of surprise to one of sadness.

"Okaasan...?" Why would his father have a picture of her in his desk drawer? And just _tossed_ in there like that? Shown no more care than his son's PET and Navi? He'd almost completely forgotten what she looked like... it never really came up... But now? Seeingan image of her again...?

He _couldn't_ cry here... Not in front of Netto. Seeing the other boy crying was one thing... he was used to that... but he'd be damned if he was going to let that boy see _him_ cry.

The longer he stared at the woman in the picture, the more he noticed his vision started to blur. He heard Netto's voice, but it was distant... and growing farther away.

He also swore he could hear Blues' voice... had Yuuichirou repaired the PETs?

No... this was too near...

_Enzan-sama? Mezamete!_

Wake up...? But he wasn't asleep yet...? And he was far too tired to remain awake...

The room seemed to disappear around him, and he simply collapsed to the floor. Holding that small, metal framed image of the one he'd lost so long ago. The only one... aside from Blues... that ever really cared about what happened to him...

_Okaasan..._

_...I miss you..._

--------------------------------  
_I had a dream...  
...of you and I...  
A thousand stars...  
...lit up the sky...  
I touched your hand...  
...and you were gone...  
But memories...  
...of you live on...  
_--------------------------------

-TBC- :3


	4. Kyoudai Ai

.-Yume to Akumu-.

**Part IV:** "_Kyoudai Ai_" ("Brotherly Love")

* * *

_**Author's Note:** I feel I need to tell you that Chapters 4 and 5 were written side by side. Chapter 4 is Netto's time and world. Chapter 5 is Enzan's. They take place over the same length of time. At the end of Chapter 5, it leads into Chapter 6. Which is the most current chapter I'm writing... as of today: September 13th '05. _XP :3

* * *

_It pains us to realize that you cannot hear our voices.  
We want to help you, but are helpless to do anything.  
You stay so peaceful and you keep so still.  
Eventually you will hear our silent pleas and reply to us in your own way._

_Only **we** really know what it is that we are listening for._

_And only you can make that sound...  
...the sound between two beings that only two similar souls can recognize._

_Netto-kun... I will listen for your heart..._

**----------xXx----------**

A figure snuck into Netto's room, making a gesture to the blue PET on his desk. Rockman nodded to the figure, and blushed. Netto was lying half off his bed, snoring loudly. He was in a pair of light blue pajamas. Only moments later, Netto was on the floor, with his chest being sat on by a taller boy. 

"Netto-kun! Wake up!"

"Oi! Get off me?"

"Otouto, you're such a whiner... Wake up! Mama's been calling you for an hour now!"

_"O...tou...to...?"_

Netto blinked, and looked at the boy on his chest. His hair fell like his father's did... and it was nearly the same shade as his own. However, the back of it sort of favored... Rockman's...? Netto reached up and rubbed at his eyes.

"Get off! I'm up..."

"I don't believe you..."

"Oi! Get off!

"Ne, Otouto... C'mon. You promised to let me beat you at a NetBattle after school today. Get up so you can eat and gather your strength for your loss," the boy grinned.

"Oi! What makes you so sure I won't win!"

"Because you and Rockman always lose against me and Iwane," the boy replied, rather smugly.

"I..wa..ne...?"

"Don't pretend you don't know my Navi, Netto-kun... C'mon, get up!"

"Well get off me and I can!"

"You still can't manage to get out from under me yet?" He snickered, "And you still say you won't lose?"

"Oi! GET OFF ME!"

"SAITO!" Netto heard his mother yell up the stairs... and the name froze the younger boy in his place.

"He's up, Mama!" the boy on top of Netto replied.

"Good! Now let your little brother up so he can come down for breakfast!" Haruka sounded just a little flustered. The boy shifted off of Netto and knelt beside him, holding a hand out.

"I suppose I should let you up now, ne?" Netto blinked, and looked at the boy's face. It was a good minute before he took the hand in front of his face. His arm felt nearly pulled off at his shoulder.

"Ittai!"

"Oh, quit whimpering, Netto-kun."

"S...Sai...to...?"

"Hm?" He looked at Netto, curiously, as he helped him stand up completely. The younger boy just looked at the older one's face as if studying it. Once more he noted the hairstyle and color, but then he took in the fact that his eyes were a little different. They were a mix of green and brown, but still just as dark in color as his own were. He had a nearly constant playful look about his face. He was already dressed, and wore bright colors... blues, whites, and even an aqua-ish color on a wristband around his left wrist. "Netto-kun?"

"Hai?" Netto jumped, he hadn't said a word since the mumbled name.

"Daijoubu? You look sort of sick... I didn't mean to hurt you...?" The older boy put hand under Netto's hair on his forehead.

"Hai... Saito..."

"Oi... What happened to Niisan? I make you mad at me or something?" Saito smirked, Netto made a face at him in reply.

"Well that isn't exactly the way I prefer to be woken up!"

"It's the only way to get you up and about fast enough so you can actually eat in the morning!"

"Oi!" Netto pouted, Saito just grinned, and ruffled the younger boy's hair.

"Just get dressed before Mama comes up here. If she gets involved, you'll wish I was still pinning you to the carpet."

"I know, I know!" Netto waved his hand and pushed the older boy towards his bedroom door. "Just get out!"

"Fine, fine, just hurry up! Or I get your breakfast!"

"Don't you dare!" Netto yelled. Saito snickered and hurried out of his little brother's room. Netto slammed his door shut and looked at the knob before his face changed to one of disbelief. As if everything just finally hit him...

_Hikari... Saito...? A-A brother...?_

_...He's annoying!_

Netto looked back to the blue PET on his desk.

_...Still..._

"Rockman?"

"Hai?"

_I just wonder if I could still beat him with what I know from battling Enzan...?_

"What do you think about actually beating Saito today?"

"I think it's a lofty goal... Maybe not today, but eventually, I think we could, Netto," Rockman's voice replied rather matter-of-factly. Netto's face lost any signs of a smirk... and gained a look of concern as he walked over to the PET. Which he _just_ noticed was the Old Style Plug In PET...

"...Rockman...?"

"Hm?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Of course I am. Why?"

"You just seem... distant..."

"I'm no different than usual, Netto. But you really should get changed. Saito **will** eat your breakfast, he's done it before," Rockman replied.

"Hai, hai..." Netto hurriedly changed, grabbed his PET and bandana from his desk, and ran downstairs, plopping himself into an empty chair. He just stared at the food already on his plate for a moment.

_What happened to 'Netto-kun' from you, Rockman...? You're almost acting like Blues..._

"Netto-kun... what's wrong? You still miffed about your wake-up call?" Saito's voice broke Netto's half-daze.

"Iie... just... thinking..."

"About a strategy for losing?" The grin returned to Saito's face, but a true look of annoyance appeared on Netto's.

"Stop that! Rockman and I won't be losing today!" Saito blinked in surprise at his younger brother's determination. But after a moment, he just smiled back.

"I'm hoping that's the case, Netto-kun. Ganbatte ne," the smile threw Netto off quite a bit. He blinked in return, and with a small reminder from their mother, the two boys hurriedly ate their breakfasts, and darted out the door for school.

**----------xXx----------**

At lunch, Netto barely ate anything on his tray. He spent most of the time fiddling with his PET and sitting with a rather serious look on his face. Meiru finally got curious enough and slid over beside the boy and peeked over his shoulder. 

"Netto? What're you doing?"

"Meiru-chan?" Netto nearly leapt from his seat, and gave the girl a look.

"Hai. Now what're you doing? You've barely touched your food. Finally trying to beat Saito-san?"

"Maybe... What's it matter to you?" Netto sounded annoyed, but he didn't mean it. Part of his voice's tone was the fact that Roll had appeared on the screen of his PET and was now hanging from his Navi as per usual.

"Maybe I was going to give you some ideas, but if you're going to be that way about it," Meiru gave him a look of her own. Netto sighed.

"Gomen nasai, Meiru-chan. It's just that he woke me up rather annoyingly..."

"This is new...?

"I don't remember being pinned to the carpet before when I woke up..."

"Last Thursday," Meiru smirked.

"Oi!" Netto looked annoyed again, and stared at Meiru. "Meiru-chan... Can I... Can I please talk to Rockman alone for the last few minutes of lunch...?"

"Why?"

"Please...?" He looked as serious as he had been when Meiru first came over. Meiru blinked, then looked almost insulted, but she nodded.

"Alright... Roll... c'mon then," Meiru shifted to head back to her desk, and Roll pouted, then disappeared from the screen. Rockman looked at Netto, confused.

"What's the matter, Netto?"

"That, for one. What happened to 'Netto-kun'?"

"I've never called you 'kun', Netto... And it's never mattered what I called you, we work the same way as a team," Rockman replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, that's the thing... I don't think we do. Can't you... at least try it...? For a day?"

"What does it matter what I ca-"

"Humor me," Netto interrupted. Rockman blinked, then sighed softly.

"Netto, that's what your brother calls you, don't you think having me start calling you the same will make him mad?"

"You're my Navi and my partner."

"He's your **brother**."

"Don't you trust me?"

"Netto..."

"...'kun', Rockman..."

"This is ridiculous!"

"I'm assuming the answer to my next question is going to be a resounding no after this display," Netto sighed, and sat his PET back where it always did during class after the lunch tray was removed.

"What question is that?"

"Have we ever been able to perform a Program Advance...?"

"That's a difficult move, Netto... I don't-"

"We'd never be able to try if you keep treating me like I'm just handing you orders."

"You never treat me any other way. Especially around Saito," Rockman replied... a hint of hurt in his voice.

"That's insane. I wouldn't do that."

"Netto...? Did Saito hit your head too hard this morning? Or did you have a really bad dream?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"What you kept trying to do on the PET, for one. For two, the way you're acting is rather off from normal. I'm concerned," Rockman sighed, as the chimes for the second half of the day sounded.

"I don't think I'm any different than normal, Rockman..."

_It's you who's acting different to me. You're concerned about **me**? I wish I could tell you how much you're almost **scaring** me right now..._

**----------xXx----------**

After school, Netto took his time heading to meet Saito for a NetBattle. He kept messing with more things on the PET. Which kept making Rockman ask him what he was doing and if he was alright. Netto finally told him if he didn't start calling him Netto-kun he wasn't going to respond to him. And he followed through on it too. It wasn't until Rockman finally did as Netto had rather kindly requested before Netto spoke to him again. 

"Netto_-kun_, will you answer me?" Rockman sounded very annoyed.

"What, Rockman? I told you, at the moment I'm just shifting some menus for easier access."

"You never cared about access, only that they worked."

"If I want a shot at beating Saito, I have to be able to quickly access things, don't I?"

"Is that... a hint of _strategy_ I heard...?" Rockman sounded truly surprised.

"Why does that surprise you?"

"Because all you-"

"Hold it! Will you _stop_ with 'all I ever cared about'? It's what I care about **now** that should matter, right? And I care about working as a _real_ team. **Real** partners. I want; just _once_; to beat Saito so he can't be so smug when he wakes me up tomorrow morning," Netto replied. Though he had yet to refer to Saito as 'niisan' himself.

"Netto...kun...?"

"Hm?"

"Maybe I should stop talking to _you_ until you honor **Saito's** request from this morning..."

"Which request?"

"The one where he asked what happened to calling him 'niisan'..."

"As smug as he was and you want me to call him that right now?" Rockman didn't reply, and crossed his arms again, turning to face the side of the PET screen; away from Netto. "Oh, don't be like that... C'mon, Rockman! ...**Fine** then, _be_ that way!" Netto pouted, and continued his work on rearranging the menus on the PET screen. Unfortunately, Rockman couldn't hold out as well as Netto had, and sighed.

"At least... try to remember to say it to him? It might work to throw him off a little after this morning..." Rockman's voice held a hint of suggestion. Netto smirked.

"I'll remember that, thanks, Rockman," Netto finished arranging, then dug in his backpack for something.

"Netto-kun...?" Rockman still sounded slightly hesitant about using that suffix, but was slowly getting used to it...

"Hm?"

"What are you looking for?"

"What Battle Chips I actually have..."

"You never keep them in order... Actually, I think half of your small collection is at home anyway," Rockman replied.

"Why would... Nevermind... do you think I can make it home before meeting Saito... niisan?" Now it was Netto's turn to sound awkward...

"If you use your rollerblades, maybe, but-"

"Right!" Netto reached for them, but found they weren't there...

"-But... you went off without them this morning..."

"Shimatta... Now what do I do! I hardly have anything to use in here! And nothing I have could possibly be used for a Program Advance!"

"Netto-kun, I told you, that sort of thing takes t-"

"It takes teamwork, Rockman. And trust. I trust you, but I don't think you trust me. You've already shown that you don't."

"I trust you, Netto. It..." He stopped, and looked down. "...Gomen ne... Netto_-kun_... It... it's...strange... that you want me to be that familiar with you... so suddenly..."

"Why wouldn't I want you familiar with me...?" Netto sounded confused.

"Because... you spend more time with Saito than you do NetBattling. I'm not as important to you as your family. But that's the way I think it should be," despite his statement, Rockman still sounded a little upset at the whole idea...

"You're wrong, Rockman," Netto smiled, warmly, "You're both my family. I mean that. And I want you to trust me when I say that."

"Netto... kun...?"

"Now, to get home, get my blades and some more chips... hopefully without running into Saito-niisan on the way," Netto blushed and bolted off. But behind a tree, a figure stood. It looked at the PET in its hands.

"Netto-kun's starting to worry me..."

"Why, Saito-san?"

"Do you think maybe I really did hit his head this morning? I didn't mean to..."

"Honestly... I think he's just finally had enough. You've pushed him enough that he really does want to work on NetBattling like you'd hoped he'd do. I just hope Rockman will work with him on it. I'm sure he'll understand soon. That boy can be rather stubborn, though..."

"Like Op, like Navi, I suppose," Saito grinned.

"I am nothing like you!"

"No, actually, you sometimes act more like Otouto than anyone."

"Hey now..." Saito just lightly snickered at his Navi, and headed off to the arcade.

**----------xXx----------**

In his room, Netto felt like an idiot... he'd already messed up half the room by emptying his closet... then dug around under the bed. His PET sat in its charger so as not to be lost in the mess... Rockman sighed, watching his Op go insane looking for his chips. 

"Netto...kun?"

"Hai?" Of course, this was said while half-under the bed...

"Have you bothered to look in the bottom drawer of your desk yet?"

"Why would I keep them there?"

"Why would you keep them under your bed?"

"...Good... point... But," Netto shimmied out from under the bed and looked where Rockman suggested... finding a tied up shoebox. Obviously, these were not used all that much... "Why...?"

"I don't ask questions about your odd habits, Netto," Rockman mumbled.

"...'kun', Rockman," Netto sat on the floor and dumped the box after he untied it, hunting through for the chips he normally carried with him. It really _was_ a rather small collection in comparison to what he usually had...

"Netto-kun," Rockman sighed again, watching his Op hunt through the various chips. A few moments later, the incoming message chime made both of them jump a little.

"Netto-kun!" Saito's voice called from the PET. This loud voice calling his name made Netto jump much more than the small chime had, in turn, dropping the 4 chips he had in his hand.

"Saito!"

"So how come you're la- eh? Is that your room? You went home? _That_ scared?"

"Stop it!" Netto growled, and picked up the chips he'd dropped.

"You've pulled out your other chips? Wow, you're serious about wanting to lose badly today, aren't you!"

"URUSAI! I'm not going to lose! Rockman and I are going to beat you!" Saito blinked... he'd never heard his brother act like this. Had he maybe pushed a little too far? Even Rockman blinked, looking at his Op from the small screen of the PET.

"Either way, you're late. If you want to lose or attempt to beat me today you should get here soon," Saito smiled... Netto blinked at the older boy's face. Something about it once more looked eerily familiar...

"Oi. I'm on my way now. Just be patient, Saito!" Netto snapped, and hopped to his knees, reaching to cut the connection to his brother.

"N-Netto...kun," Rockman stammered. "You sounded...a bit... mean... to him..."

"Not mean, Rockman. Just a bit annoyed," Netto sighed, and shifted to sit, leaning against his desk. "And highly competitive."

"Netto-kun...?"

"Nevermind. Ikuzo! Rockman!" Netto smiled; happily; and gathered up the chips he'd chosen... then his PET... and lastly, his blades; popping those on the second he was out the door.

"Netto-kun... I'll do my best..."

**----------xXx----------**

_What happened? An attack?_

_Of some sort... yes... The Navi tried, but there's really little they could do. I'm not upset with them at all._

_I am! How could they just run away!_

_Please calm down... the scene was much worse before you got here... If I were them... I'd have run away too..._

**----------xXx----------**

At the arcade, Saito was busy playing a crane game while waiting for Netto. The younger Hikari sibling arrived, but didn't interrupt the elder one. Instead, Netto watched his brother playing the game... and noted that he got nearly any toy he'd try for. Any annoyance he had towards him seemed to disappear... The longer he watched Saito, the less annoyed he felt. Everything seemed to disappear when he saw Saito give the last toy he'd won to a little girl that was crying about her brother beating her in a game. Sure it seemed like a stupid thing to cry about... 

But the look on her face when she was handed that little teddy bear... and that smile on his brother's face...

"Rockman..."

"Netto-kun?" Rock's voice sounded concerned rather than answering to his name... Netto blinked, and pulled his PET from its holster. His face went from lost in thought to determined in a blink.

"What's say we go show Saito what we can do?" He smiled to his Navi as he spoke.

"Hai!" Rockman said, also nodding in reply. As he did, he almost gained the same look of determination as his Op... Almost...

"Oi! Netto-kun!" Saito's voice made Netto jump, and look up... to find his brother heading towards him.

"Saito!" Netto replied; hurriedly. Saito made a face, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he reached into his pocket, and pulled something out... Something that hung from a keychain.

"Otouto. I know it's stupid, but here. I saw this and thought of you. So... I got it," Saito held his hand out, revealing the object. Netto was about to make a comment, when he saw the keychain in his brother's hand. A little calico kitty plush keychain. This entire thing felt...

...stupid.

And off...

But overall...

He wanted to cry. He felt confused.

"Well? Go on, Netto-kun. Take it. It's yours. You don't have to use it. Put in in your desk with everything else," Saito still held a smile on his face. Netto hurriedly snatched the keychain, held it against himself, and shook his head.

"Iie! Arigatou... Saito-niisan," Netto pulled his hands away from his chest and looked at the object in his hands.

Cute...

"It seems like I finally got through to you that if you just take NetBattling a little more seriously it'll be more fun," Saito snickered.

"Why _wouldn't_ I take it seriously?" Netto blinked, and looked up. Saito seemed surprised.

"You never have. You said it was stupid. Honestly, I think you only accepted Rockman from Papa... because he was programmed just for you. Like Iwane was made for me," Saito stood up straight, putting his hands on his hips.

"Chigau! NetBattling isn't stupid! But it shouldn't be used to decide someone's status," Netto snapped.

"Netto-kun, it isn't 'status'," Saito began.

"It is!" Netto interrupted, "You think you're better than me just because you can beat me in a NetBattle. You AREN'T! Skill with chips and a Navi have nothing to do with who you are, Saito! I _was_ going to try and beat you... but I realize that it won't matter if I do or if I don't you're still going to be pig-headed about it in the morning! Besides that... there's a possibility that you'd just _let_ me win anyway after this," Netto took a step back, "Maybe another day," then he turned, taking only two steps towards the door when he heard Saito speak again.

"That's a hell of a speech to say you're afraid to lose, Netto-kun," Saito's voice held close to no emotion... but what was there was a bit hard to discern. Netto stopped and spun to face his brother again.

"I'm not afraid of losing to you! You aren't getting it at all!"

"Then what is it, Netto-kun...? You agreed to fight this morning. This afternoon, you went home instead of coming here, then you get all upset over this entire concept when you DO finally show up-"

"Finally show up! I went home because I'd left my Battle Chips and blades there!"

"You always do!"

"YAMERO! Just because I have before doesn't mean I have to do the same thing now!" Netto snapped. There was a few moments silence between the two brothers, and the attention of everyone in the arcade. Neither sibling paid any attention to the others there. Finally, Saito spoke, and he looked annoyed as he did.

"Netto-kun..." Netto growled before he replied.

"I'm not going to fight you today."

"After the way you were acting this morning, I didn't really expect you to."

"Nani...?"

"I'm proud of you, Netto-kun," Saito smiled, his expression changing to match his tone of voice. Netto's anger dropped into confusion... He felt his muscles relax just a little... realizing he must've tensed up quite a bit...

"...I don't... understand..."

"Quite the opposite, really. You understand perfectly. All I ever wanted was for you to understand why I feel so focused on NetBattling. Truthfully, Otouto, I don't care one way or the other who wins or loses so long as it was a good fight. And a fair one. Sure it would be nice to lose to you once, but even if I never get to fight that battle... knowing you can feel passionate about it the way you just were makes me happy. That's the only reason I ever pushed you and teased you about losing is because I wanted you to try and learn the feeling for yourself. Find out from your own feelings and emotions the _real_ feeling behind even **wanting** to NetBattle in the first place."

"S...Saito... -nii..san...?" Netto's voice was just above a whisper. He could only stare at the older boy in front of him. Once more he wanted to cry... but this time he couldn't begin to put a finger on why. Saito grinned, the seriousness just barely broken.

"I just wonder if after this long... Rockman's not a little rusty in battle techniques," Saito didn't let Netto reply to him; and grabbed his little brother in a hug. Following that up with ruffling the boy's brunette mop top.

"Oi! Oi! Baka-niisan!" Netto made a face, but cracked a bit of a smile. Both PETs beeped a moment later... and Yuuichirou's voice broke through immediately.

"Saito? Netto? Come home for dinner. Mama's making curry for you both tonight," both boys whipped the devices from their holding places, and looked to the screens. Replying in unison to their father.

"Hai, Papa!" Afterwards, looking at one another before snickering. Netto put his PET away after closing the connection to Yuuichirou. Being first to head out of the arcade and towards home. Of course he slapped on his blades the second he was outside and took off with a headstart.

...But a minute later, he found himself being passed by Saito on a skateboard. The elder sibling glanced back and grinned. Netto shook his head, clearing his surprise, and kicked off to speed himself up; trying to keep up... then, of course, bypass... his brother.

**----------xXx----------**

_It's been nearly a full day since-_

_I know how long it's been, you don't have to remind me. I still can't find anything unusual._

_...I wanted to apologize... for earlier. I didn't mean to sound so harsh._

_It's alright... Frankly... I felt pretty close to the same when I found out._

_I can... understand... why... Ano..._

_Hm...?_

_Is everyone alright...?_

_They appear to be. For now. I don't have a good feeling about the lack of data, though. Only time will tell how everything will turn out._

_I hate waiting to find out bad news._

_I do too..._

**----------xXx----------**

After dinner the only fighting done at the table was between the two siblings over a piece of cake left for dessert. Somehow, Netto managed to win rights to it... It was only after he took two bites of it that he split it and gave half of the rest to Saito. Yuuichirou headed upstairs, while Haruka cleaned up. Netto was first to feel tired that night, and headed up ahead of Saito... who followed him rather quickly. Before the younger of the two knew it, both boys were in Netto's room. 

"Oi! What're you doing? I actually want to head to bed early!"

"All that running around today actually wore you out? I'm impressed, Netto-kun," Saito smirked, after verbally poking his little brother. Netto plopped on the bed, after plugging his PET into its cradle to charge.

"Won't you need your strength to pin me to the floor in the morning?"

"Nah. You're usually half-off the bed when I come in to wake you up anyhow."

"O-"

"I know, I know... 'Oi!'," Saito smirked again, and this time, sat beside Netto and poked him for real. Netto half-giggled and shifted.

"Quit," he said.

"That tickle?"

"Don't even start!"

"Paranoid, aren't you?"

"With you as a brother, I think I have a right," Netto took his turn to smirk, and shifted to lie on his side; looking at the older boy.

"I feel o-ffended... Otouto..." Saito clutched his shirt on his chest and had an obviously fake 'hurt' look. Netto chuckled, smiling.

"Baka..."

"Arigatou, Netto-kun," Saito snickered, and ruffled the younger boy's hair again. Netto grabbed Saito... in a tight hug around the older boy's chest. Netto's head was pressed tightly against said chest. Saito blinked, and looked down at his brother; confused. "Netto-kun? Are you alright?"

"Hai... Saito-niisan... Gomen nasai..."

"For what?"

"For being the way I was all day... In such a bad mood... and acting like I hate you. I don't," Netto hugged Saito tightly; pushing his cheek against the older boy's chest... He could hear a heartbeat... Oddly, the very sound of it made him feel better than he had all day...

"Baka-Netto... I'm used to you acting weird all day long. Don't be sorry for being normal," Saito returned the hug, snickering softly.

"Oniisan... I mean it. Truthfully... I did have a bad dream last night... And it bothered me all day..."

"Tell me about it...?"

"Nn... iie... It doesn't matter now... Ano..."

"You want me to stay with you until you're asleep...?" Saito finished Netto's thought... the younger sibling nodded, still not letting go of the elder.

"Why don't you let go and change-"

"I don't want to."

"Netto-kun..."

"Just don't leave me..."

"I promise I won't... I'll be here as long as you want me to be, Netto-kun," Saito's tone softened, and he held Netto tight. He felt worried about the boy's sudden change... in 'personality'. Netto was never this serious even when he had just woken up from a nightmare...

"Forever, Oniisan... Forever..."

Saito couldn't reply to that response...

...at all.

**----------xXx----------**

The next morning, Netto shifted, and grumbled... feeling like something was out of place. As his eyes opened, and he could see... he realized where he was. In his brother's arms... lying half on the older boy's chest. He'd asked Saito not to leave him... and he'd kept his word. 

He'd fallen asleep holding his brother.

Netto shifted a bit more and pushed himself up just enough to be able to look at the other boy's face. The sight of his brother's sleeping face; and the knowledge that this meant Saito couldn't wake him up this morning; made him grin. He could easily have pounced on Saito's chest and pinned him to the bed... or shoved him off and pinned him to the floor... claiming a morning victory...

But instead... Netto put an arm around the boy, and replaced his head upon the top of Saito's chest. Again he just listened to the heartbeat he could hear; feeling more and more relaxed the longer he listened.

"I wish I knew why just this was comforting..." Netto thought, finding his eyes wanting to close again. He heard his bedroom door's knob turn, and watched the door open slowly. Netto decided to pretend he hadn't woken up yet... but caught the figure of his mother sticking her head into check on her two sons before his eyes closed again.

Haruka blinked, and smiled at the sight that greeted her. This alone; to her; was simple proof the two boys didn't really hate each other. It gave her that much more strength to deal with the random spats they have at the table, or the hours before her husband would come home late.

...And, sadly...as much as she hated to ruin this scene, they both had to get to school today. She had come up to see why Saito hadn't gotten up yet. However, she knew Netto would be the more difficult one to get up; and checked on him first. She headed over to the bed.

"Netto... Saito... Wake up... You'll both be late for school," Haruka gently shook both boys as she stood over them. Saito grumbled, but Netto yawned, and sat up; rubbing his eyes.

"Ohayou... Mama..."

"Well... Now this is backwards," Haruka smiled.

"Oi..." Netto still looked half-asleep, and stretched. Saito shifted as well... turning over and yanking blankets from wherever he could reach to cover himself. Netto blinked, and looked down at his brother. "Mama...? If Oniisan won't get up... do I have permission to retaliate for all those mornings he woke me up?" Netto grinned, and looked at his mother eagerly. The woman tried once more to get Saito up before she sighed, and stepped about 4 paces back.

"Only because I've heard the sounds in the morning," Haruka crossed her arms and nodded. Netto's grin grew about two times as wide, and he looked down to the now half-bundled Saito.

Two seconds later there was a very loud 'thud', and Netto was sitting on the elder sibling's chest, leaning over to look down at his face.

"Mezamete, Oniisan!"

"Oi oi! Get off!" Saito grumbled, wriggling. Netto just cackled, and crossed his arms.

"Ohayou, Saito-niisan!" Netto sounded awfully perky...

"Oh you're enjoying this too much, Otouto," Saito just looked annoyed at the boy on top of him. Netto's grin widened and he nodded.

"Insanely much," Netto took his hands and poked both sides of Saito's ribs, making the older boy giggle.

"Oi Quit!"

"This is for all those cracks yesterday morning," Netto snickered and did it again. Saito reached up and started to do the same thing to his little brother; causing Netto to start laughing as well. Haruka shook her head, but smiled. When Saito managed to shift and pin Netto again, she finally spoke up.

"Alright, alright. Enough you two. Breakfast should be ready in a few minutes. Get ready for school and come down to eat," she smiled and turned to leave the room. Both boys acknowledged her and she left. Saito pinned Netto against the floor and he looked down.

"You managed to get me first, but I still win in the end," he smirked. Netto didn't look upset... instead, he managed to wriggle a hand free and went right for the ribs. This made Saito giggle again, and let up.

"Maybe so, but now I know your weakness," Netto grinned, and hurried free.

"Ah! You can be taught, Netto-baka!" Saito replied; trying to stifle his giggles. Netto stood up before he turned back.

"Baka-Saito," Netto hurried out of his room and ran right to the bathroom to shower quickly before school. Only then did Saito realize something.

"...Hey wait, I'm the one that's supposed to get first dibs on the shower. Netto-kun always takes forever. OI!" Saito stood up and bolted from the room.

"Rockman...?" A young, male voice called the blue Navi from behind him. Rock blinked, and turned to look behind him.

"Ohayou... Iwane-san."

"Oi... if Saito-san is Netto's brother, wouldn't that make me yours? You don't have to call me that."

"Don't be silly... Navi can't have brothers."

"Sure they can, Rockman. If you want to, that is. I think of you as _my_ little brother. Why do you like to argue about this so much?"

"I don't like arguing. But the only time you ever come see me is when Netto and Saito are busy on their own. And it doesn't seem to bother you that they forget about us quite often," Rockman replied.

"Saito-san doesn't forget about me..."

"At least one of them pays attention," Rock opened a small screen in front of him, and looked a little upset.

"It isn't me that's bothering you, is it."

"What do you mean?"

"It's Netto," Iwane's words did hit _something_... Rock winced a little at the name. "I thought you cared about him?"

"I do..."

"Then what's wrong, Rockman...?"

"You rarely come to see me and Netto's usually too busy with Saito... I guess... I just get lonely here by myself," Rockman fiddled with the screed he'd brought up. Iwane moved to try and look at it, but Rock closed it when he realized what the other Navi was doing.

"Why do you have that picture?"

"I may just be data... but I can dream, can't I?"

"Rockman...?"

"Hm...?"

"I have the same picture," Iwane smiled, lightly to the blue Navi... who looked at him in surprise; blinking.

"I-Iwa..ne..-san..."

"Rockman... Do you want to be closer to Netto?" Rockman once more looked confused, but he nodded after a moment.

"Hai... I do, but-"

"No buts. If you want to be closer to your Op, you need to show it. Make the effort. I think I have a good idea how Netto is. Try and be close to him. He'll be closer to you."

"Do you really think Netto could get as close to me as you and Saito?"

"More so, I believe... start by honoring his request even when not around him. You'll feel better."

"His... request?"

"I know he had you calling him Netto-kun yesterday."

"Had me? He asked-!"

"Then do it even when alone, Rockman. I promise you'll feel differently about Netto," Iwane smiled, and a beep sounded in the PET. "Gotta go, Rockman. Ganbare," he smiled, quickly hugged the little blue Navi, then left the PET. A moment later, Rock found Netto's face on the screen of the PET.

"Ohayou, Rockman," the boy smiled to the blue Navi... who recalled the last words he was told before his Op returned. He smiled back, and replied happily.

"Ohayou, Netto-kun..."

**----------xXx----------**

School didn't go all that fast for Netto.. and he felt half-tired be the end of the day. Netto slowly skated from the entrance of the school towards the gate, yawning, and complaining about how they had to have set up that every single subject seemed to get progressively more and more boring. Rockman started to comment that Netto just hated tests when Yuuichirou came into view standing by the school gates. Netto's sleepiness seemed to disappear in a blink, and the boy sped over to meet his father. 

"Papa!" He leapt and hugged his dad happily. Yuu returned the hug. Netto then released his hold and looked up at the man's face. "So what did I do...?"

"Eh?" Yuuichirou blinked, confused.

"What did I do that got you here today?" Netto seemed ready for a lecture. But it wouldn't come. Yuuichirou chuckled and shook his head, then walked towards the SciLabs van, waiting for Netto to follow.

"You did nothing, Netto. I just thought you might want something as soon as possible. I just got it this afternoon and thought I'd meet you after school. I'm heading to meet Saito after soccer practice if you'd like to come along?"

"Oniisan never lets me watch him practice," Netto pouted, stopping beside the van as his father opened the door on the side.

"Well if you come with me now, he'll have no choice. Since you'll be there with me, right?" Netto blinked, and looked up; he hadn't thought of it that way. He got into the van as fast as he could, nodding.

"Hai, Papa! Ikuzo!" Netto yelled in reply... Yuuichirou chuckled and hurried in himself, closing the door and getting into the driver's seat.

"I'll wait to give it to you when I give Saito his then," Yuu said, starting the van up.

"Give me what, Papa? You never said," Netto buckled himself in, and kept staring at his dad's face. The man just smiled as he headed off to Saito's school.

"It'll be a surprise for you both then, Netto. Just be patient."

"Mou... That's not fair. I almost had something before Saito-niisan," Netto plopped back into his seat; pouting.

"Netto-kun, you still _knew_ about something before Saito, ne?" Netto blinked, then grinned. He pulled the PET from its holster and looked to the Navi on its screen.

"You're right, Rockman! That's twice today I've managed to beat him on something," Netto hugged the PET, laughing softly. Rockman blinked; and blushed; putting his hand to the screen.

"Iwane-san, you were right... Arigatou..."

**----------xXx----------**

_Have you found any way to try and reach them yet?_

_Only one, but it's still a theory... and I'm not sure on the safety of the idea yet. I need more time._

_If it were up to me, I'd give you all the time you needed. But it's been days..._

_No one wants them back here more than I do... Believe me when I say that._

_I can only think of two people that want them back that much..._

**----------xXx----------**

About two hours later, Saito's Soccer Practice ended, and only then did he take notice of the brunette on the bench. The older sibling just blinked and ran over from his teammates to his family. Stopping to look at Yuuichirou before Netto. 

"Oi. Why'd you bring Netto-kun, Papa?" Netto winced, and looked down at his PET... which he'd been fiddling with for the last 20 minutes.

"Saito, I picked him up from school. I have something for both of you. There is nothing wrong with Netto watching you play nor practice."

"Yeah, but I suck..."

"You do not, Oniisan," Netto said, still looking to the device in his hands.

"Not today... but that was because the teams for practice were sorta unbalanced for once," Saito mumbled.

"Nevermind any of that, Saito. Get your things and follow me."

"But Papa, I haven't-"

"I know. But we should get going as soon as possible. I'm sure you won't even miss not showering after practice."

"Must be insanely good, Papa..."

"So he says," Netto looked up, half-smirking.

"Both of you just wait," Yuuichirou smirked, and headed back to the van. Netto hopped over the bench and hurried after his father. Saito sighed, went over to the team bench, gathered his things in a duffel bag and hurried after his brother and father to the van.

Once all three were in the back, Yuuichirou sat on the stool in front of the small computer panel and held out both his hands. The boys blinked.

"Give me your PETs for a few minutes."

"Papa, you could have taken them...?"

"I didn't have these until this afternoon. I need your PETs to finish this," Yuuichirou gave a small smile, as both boys handed over their PETs. He plugged them both into the computer... and neither boy could tell what he was doing. So out of boredom, Netto kept poking Saito.

"Quit it," Saito smacked at his little brother's hand, and went back to watching their father... Netto did it again. "Quit!" Netto snickered, and did again... ducking from a smack, poking Saito again, then finding himself in a headlock. "You poke, I pin!"

"Oi! That hurts! I wasn't poking that hard!"

"So stop poking!"

"Let go!" Netto wriggled, trying to get free, and poked Saito trying to do just that.

"I said quit!"

"I said leggo!" Both of them stopped when Yuuichirou shoved two brand new Progress PETs in their way... and was looking a little annoyed. Netto blinked, and Saito dropped his little brother flat out and took hold of the new PET.

"Sugoi, Papa! Did you make these?"

"Baka Oniisan! IPC makes all the PETs. Papa just put our Navi into them!" Netto looked overtly proud of that... and hugged his blue Progress PET.

"Baka Netto-kun," Saito made a face, and checked out his new PET... Netto was acting like he'd always had one... Of course, as far as Netto remembered, he did. Netto easily brought up the 3D Screen, and gave Rockman a simple cannon Battle Chip. Rockman, however, looked surprised.

"Sugoi! It was very fast!"

"Of course it was, Rockman," Netto grinned, then blinked and looked at Saito, still fiddling. Netto grinned a little wider, and hit Iwane's Emblem on the PET, and nearly made Saito fall off his seat. Netto cackled, and just laughed loudly at his brother. Yuuichirou smiled at his sons. Netto was fiddling with putting chips into the PET, while Saito still seemed to be trying to figure out what to do with the new object in his hands.

"Alright, alright. Let's get home then," he didn't wait for a response before turning to head up to the driver's seat. Before he was able to leave, however, Netto spoke up.

"Papa? Can we go to the arcade instead? I promise we'll be home soon!" Saito blinked and looked at Netto oddly. Yuuichirou turned to look back.

"I don't know..."

"Please?" Netto turned off the 3D Screen, and looked to be begging. Yuuichirou gave a small, defeated sigh and a smile.

"Alright then. Just make it quick. You had your curry last night. Tonight, Mama's making meat spaghetti," the man explained.

"We'll be fast, Papa!" Netto sounded excited, and grinned at Saito. The elder sibling just looked oddly at Netto through the projected screen.

**----------xXx----------**

Soon after being dropped at the arcade, the two siblings had commandeered a 'table', quickly plugged their Navi in. Rockman kept looking at Netto oddly; mirroring Saito's expression. Iwane was just taking as much as he could in stride. 

"So... what, you wanted to show off the PETs or missed fighting over how unfair things are?"

"I think you'll be the one saying that, Oniisan," Netto grinned, and started things off by sending Rockman another cannon chip. Rockman took his cue and fired at Iwane. The aqua-colored Navi retaliated with his own buster. Rockman leapts aside, and let the cannon reform into the Rockbuster.

"**Yusaburu Blaster!**"

"**Rockbuster!**"

Neither Navi took a hit from the other, but Iwane smiled lightly at Rockman before he ran towards him. It took Rock a moment to react, but he seemed to recover fast enough to shift and land a fist against Iwane's stomach. In retaliation, Iwane knocked the smaller Navi off his feet by slamming his own leg against the back of Rock's. Similar to how Saito managed to pin Netto in the morning, Iwane was quickly on top of Rockman and coughed.

"Not bad. I see you haven't gotten as rusty as I thought," Iwane grinned.

"I don't get rusty!" Rock growled and shifted his arm.

"That's funny, I usually don't get to pin you this long."

"You won't," Rockman grinned.

"Eh?" Iwane's head tilted slightly before he got what the smaller Navi meant.

"**ROCKBUSTER!**" Iwane took the second hit of the battle from Rockman and stumbled back as the blue Navi hopped to his feet and stepped backwards. Rockman didn't have to say anything to Netto nor receive any 'orders'. He ran forward with his arm out. Saito fiddled with a chip, keeping Iwane from defending in the time it took Netto to send Rockman a Sword chip from the side menu. His Navi was logged out, and Netto yelled excitedly.

"That isn't fair! We just got these!"

"So...?"

"So how come you know what you're doing!" Saito looked at his PET; checking on Iwane; then headed over to his little brother. Netto blinked and plugged Rockman out without thinking about it.

"How hard can they be to use?"

"Well for one, how were you able to use a Battle Chip without slotting it in?"

"They're stored on the side menu, Oniisan... Didn't you see my putting them into the PET earlier?" Netto tilted his head slightly.

"That doesn't mean anything, Papa didn't tell us... Well he didn't tell me. You didn't let him tell me, did you?" Saito poked Netto in the chest; giving him a look.

"Papa didn't tell me either..."

"Then how did you know?" Saito was glaring by now. Netto didn't have a response. "I know what it is... Enzan told you. No fair. I bet he told you about these before Papa got them too!" Saito looked to be pouting. "Being friends with him makes this whole thing unfair," Saito made a face.

"It shouldn't matter how I knew what to do with this PET! I still won because Rockman overpowered Iwane first!"

"But Iwane couldn't defend himself from your Sword because I didn't know I could use the chips on the side!"

"Iwane still could have moved or used his buster cannon to defend!"

"You still cheated!"

"I did not!"

"NETTO-KUN!" Rockman yelled; half-whimpering. Netto blinked and looked to his PET. "Why don't you two stop arguing and get home? Mama and Papa will be waiting for you."

"And Mama's making meat spaghetti tonight," Iwane added... still sounding hurt from the battle.

----------------------  
_How dare you say  
That my behavior's unacceptable...  
So condescending,  
Unnecessarily critical..._  
----------------------

Both Ops glared at each other and ran out of the arcade... Netto snapping on his blades and Saito whipping out his skateboard. Even the trip home was a competition... Upon reaching the front door first, Netto spun around and leaned on it while snapping off his skates.

"I win!"

"You were in my way!"

"That never stopped you before!"

"You never tried so hard to STAY in my way! That's not a fair competition!"

"I thought the point was to keep your opponent from winning without cheating?" Netto stuck his tongue out at Saito.

"And keeping me from moving forward isn't cheating?"

"You weren't moving fast enough to get past me when I moved today, that's all. It wasn't cheating!" As the argument between them continued, both Navi just sighed. It was only broken up when Yuuichirou flung open the door; landing Netto on his rear just inside the entryway.

"WHAT are you two arguing over now!"

"I beat Oniisan at the NetBattle and he says I cheated!"

"You did! You used the fact that I didn't know what I was doing with the new PET against me!"

"That's just called 'being strategic', Saito," Yuuichirou commented, helping Netto up.

----------------------  
_I have a tendency  
Of getting very physical...  
So watch your step,  
Cause if I do,  
You'll need a miracle..._  
----------------------

Saito growled at Netto, ignoring his father. Netto made a face back, then moved to kick his shoes off and run into the house. Saito had his shoes half off before he made it to the entryway and raced after the younger sibling. The chase took them around their mother, under the table, up the stairs; and back down; ending when Saito tackled Netto in the living room; pinning him to the carpet behind the couch... sitting on his back.

"GET OFF ME!"

"SAY YOU CHEATED!"

"I DID NOT!"

"YOU DID SO!"

"KNOCK IT OFF!" Haruka was standing over both boys, hands on her hips, GLARING them both down. Saito looked up and quickly got off his little brother.

"Mama, Netto-kun cheated!" Netto pushed himself up; holding his arm that had been held behind his back and glared at Saito.

"I did not! Papa even said that was 'being strategic' not cheating!"

"That's just another way of saying cheater!"

"Why are you so stuck on this! Because you lost!"

"No, because it was unfair!"

"Both of you knock it off and go sit down for dinner!" Haruka yelled.

"Hai, Mama..." Both boys dropped their heads in defeat and hurried to the table. Yuuichirou gave a small sigh.

**----------xXx----------**

_Blues...?_

_Hmm..._

_What do you think they're dreaming about...?_

_Eh?_

_Netto-kun and Enzan..._

_I know who, Rockman... I just... don't know what._

_C'mon... can't you think of anything Enzan would dream about...?_

_Ano..._

----------------------  
_What you are doing is screwing things up  
Inside my head...  
You should know better...  
You never listened to a word I said..._  
----------------------  
-TBC-


	5. Mama no Ude

.-Yume to Akumu-.

**Part V:** "_Mama no Ude_" ("Mama's Arms")

* * *

_We try to keep you safe, no matter what happens.  
We want to make you happy in any situation.  
Our orders are not always clear despite your perfect words.  
Sometimes we find that we must break the known rules to achieve our goals._

_Goals you may not even be aware we are capable of._

_But only you really understand our thoughts...  
...thoughts that are the same as yours.  
Thoughts that break through the silence when we think we are alone.  
We promise that you are never truly alone._

_We have given the call, but can you hear us now...?_

_Enzan-sama, I will listen for your soul's reply..._

**----------xXx----------**

The lump under the red blanket wasn't moving much. In fact, when it did, it just seemed to be burying itself farther under the blanket. The morning sun had already risen well enough to be shining in the window near the bed... which could be part of why the lump was burying itself deeper under the blankets. 

"Enzan...? Enzan, wake up..." The reply from the lump was a muffled grumble... But the voice that called repeated itself... "Enzan! Wake up! Come on, sweetie, if you don't get up, I can't make breakfast for you."

_Breakfast...? Wait... that's... not... Blues' voice..._

Enzan felt someone sit on his bed, gently, and a hand wound up on his shoulder. It was just now registering that the voice belonged to a woman...

"Enzan-chan, please get up. I know you're off school today, but that's no reason to stay in bed all day."

"Off... School...?" Enzan's voice may have been muffled greatly by the red blanket over him, but the woman still heard what he said.

"Yes. Off school. Teacher's Day? Unless you just told me that to get off a day of school?"

"No. I wouldn't-" Enzan blinked, and shifted to poke his head out from under the blankets. He realized that it was indeed daylight, and this was **really** his room. But still... something was off. He only knew one of the female servants well, but not well enough to allow them that sort of familiarity.

"Aha, I see you **are** alive under there! That's good. Because you're supposed to come to IPC at lunch today, remember? You don't want to miss out on anything, do you?"

"I...P...C...? Come to...?" Enzan shifted, to sit up, and rubbed his eyes... maybe he was still asleep. This was weird... He finally looked at the woman that sat on his bed... and two seconds later, he was against the wall. His bright, blue eyes sat open very wide, and his general expression looked shocked. "O-Okaa...san..?"

"What's the matter, Enzan-chan...? You're still mad at me from last night, aren't you...?" The woman sighed softly at him, then smiled and reached a hand to touch his face lightly. "I told you not to go to bed angry at me. You had a bad dream didn't you...?"

"I... I... I have to... still... be asleep... Okaasan... You... you can't..." Enzan seemed to be trying to get through the wall behind him. He shut his eyes tightly, and shook his head.

_Okaasan's dead... I **know** that... I **remember** that... There's no way all I remember is just a bad dream... It... It's too much... I finally accepted that fact... She...?_

"I can't what, sweetheart...?" Enzan felt a pair of arms wrap around him comfortingly. His racing throughts came to a halt, and his eyes opened rather wide once more. Everything was taking way too long to sink in. Despite what his brain was telling him, he didn't care if this was real or not. If it was a dream... it was a happy dream. And he'd let it go however long it was going to... his arms flew around the woman that held him and his hugged her very tightly.

"Of course... I'm not mad at you... Okaasan..."

"You haven't called me that since you were little. You must still be upset... you only go back to calling me that when you're mad at me," she replied. She still hugged him, and Enzan shifted his head. He couldn't picture himself really calling this woman anything else... But something did come to mind...

"Gomen nasai... Mama..." He half nuzzled into the woman's shoulder. It seemed to make her happy. She gave him a light squeeze in return.

"One of these days, you'll listen to Mama and not hold such silly little grudges," she giggled very lightly, and released her son. "Now. I'm going downstairs to make breakfast for you. I have a few chores you need to do today and I want you to actually do them this time, alright?"

"Hai," Enzan nodded, a blush sat on his cheeks... though his mother must have assumed it was what she just said that caused it. She got up from the bed and got to the door of his room before she stopped and turned to look back at him.

"Remember that I asked you to please wear a suit this time. I have a good reason for asking you to come meet me at IPC for lunch. I know you don't like to wear them, but this is important to me, alright?" Enzan blinked... why would he hate wearing suits? After all, he had to a lot... but he nodded again, and shifted the covers off of him completely. "Don't worry, I'm sure Blues will remind you before you try and leave without one," she winked at him and left.

_Blues..._

"Blues?" Enzan spoke, hoping his voice didn't still sound confused.

"Hai, Enzan?" Blues' voice replied from nearby. Despite the lack of any negative quality to his voice, hearing him not use any suffix was sort of creepy... However, the Navi's reply allowed him to locate the PET. Which just confused him even more.

_This is... the Old Style... Plug In... PET...? But..._

"Ohayou, Blues..." Enzan gave the red Navi a sincere smile, and oddly enough, the Navi returned it. As well as the same inflection of happiness in his voice.

"Ohayou, Enzan. You shouldn't keep your Mama waiting too long. Get dressed so she can have breakfast with you before she leaves for work," Blues still managed his occasional commanding tone... but it was still softened. Something that made Enzan feel both uncomfortable **and** comforted... which was another odd thing. Despite the increasing number of those things, Enzan still didn't care if this was real or not. The simple fact he had his mother again, even for a short time, was good enough for him. He took the PET and ran off to get showered and dressed for the day.

**----------xXx----------**

_Has his condition improved...?_

_Neither of them have gotten any better. I'm growing much more concerned._

_Any ideas what could have gotten them both this bad? They should have been fine with just a little rest._

_Sleep Deprivation does strange things to one's body and mind._

_But this is beyond that sort of strain on either..._

_We're trying as hard as we can to figure this out. I promise._

_Has his father been by yet?_

_No... and he hasn't returned any messages left for him. You'd think he'd care about what happened._

_I sometimes wonder what's really important to that man..._

_Money..._

**----------xXx----------**

Just a short while later, he sat at the kitchen table, the red PET propped on its stand, and watched his mother cooking at the stove. Something; if he tried; he could still recall from when he was little. It always made him happy then. No matter if it was something he hated, he still ate it and it always tasted good simply because **she** had made it _for him_. Her voice snapped him out of the daze he'd gotten into, as she now stood beside him, and two pancakes sat on his plate. 

"Thinking about something interesting, Enzan-chan?"

"Iie... Gomen," Enzan blushed, and looked to his breakfast, he then watched his mother walk back to the stove, and make another. She glanced back, and realized her son wasn't eating yet... but instead watching her.

"Daijoubu ka?"

"Hai."

"Then why aren't you eating?"

"I thought I'd wait for you...?" His response made the woman blink in confusion, but then smile as if his words had just made her entire day.

"That's.. .very sweet... Alright then. But it has to be fast, I have a meeting this morning. It was moved up an hour. I just got the message when I came downstairs," she turned back to the pan as she finished her sentence, and flipped the pancake.

"Who's it with?" Enzan asked, rather innocently.

"Since when are you interested in my business issues?" She replied, almost playfully.

"I'm not allowed?"

"I never said that. Just odd coming from you," she finished, and sat her own breakfast on a plate, then sat across from Enzan at the table. A paper sat beside her place, looking as though it had yet to be touched. "Itadakimasu."

"Itadakimasu," Enzan happily started eating, and his mother did the same. It wasn't but a few moments after that she finally replied to his question. "StarTak, MicroFam Inc., and Papagu... Papa gu... Oh well isn't that lovely, I've forgotten how to say the third company's name..." She made a face, Enzan blinked and looked over at her strangely.

"Papaguten?"

"Yes, that's right. How did you know?"

"You must have said something about it once before," Enzan blushed, and went back to eating, though a glance to the front page of paper his mother now held up gave him a new excuse... "Or I could have seen that article..."

"What art- Oh my. That can't be a good thing," she referred, of course, to the image of the building that had been destroyed on the front page. Enzan got up from his seat and came around to look at the paper as well.

"Vandalism? Somehow, that's not a good word for that kind of destruction. I wonder if they'll still have the ability to make any deals with what they'll need to recover from that...?" Enzan sounded so serious...

"Enzan-chan... Are you studying business in school right now?" His mother asked, sounding rather unsure. Enzan blinked... this was just normal thought for him.

"He is, but he never really pays attention to it," Blues replied for Enzan... and sounded just as confused as his mother.

"Apparently he pays more attention that he lets on," Enzan had to comment after that...

"Oi! I pay attention!" He did stop after he realizes just how much he'd sounded like Netto just then... the blush on his cheeks brightened a shade or two. He heard a soft chuckle from his PET, which confused him a little, but he said nothing about it.

"Oh my, I have to get going. Thank you for eating with me, Enzan-chan," his mother said, after noticing the clock on the wall. She stood up and tucked the paper under her arm, before kissing Enzan lightly on the forehead. "Now remember, you're to be at IPC by 11 so you can be there for lunch with me. Alright? And it's _very_ important that you **please** wear a suit like I asked."

"Hai, Mama."

_That's still... **very** weird..._

"Thank you. Blues? You remind him of that later, alright?"

"Hai, Ijuu-"

"Blues?"

"Mama," Blues corrected himself quickly.

"Thank you, I'll see you at lunch, Enzan-chan. Don't be late!" She smiled and hurried out of the room. Enzan just stared at the doorway. It wasn't until a male voice spoke from behind him that he turned.

"Enzan-sama?"

"Eh? What..."

"Here is the list of chores your mother left for you to do today," a male servant held out a small piece of paper.

"Why didn't she give the list to Blues?"

"Because you never do them when she gives them to your Navi. She hoped this would get you to actually do at least one this time," he replied. Enzan took the paper from the servant's hand, after which he turned to leave. The white-haired boy looked at the list, finding only 5 items on it. 3 of which he knew that he'd done many times.

"Enzan?"

"Hm?"

"Are you actually going to do any of those today?"

"This shouldn't take me more than an hour and a half... at best. Why wouldn't I?" Enzan replied, putting the list into his pants pocket. He picked up the PET and put the stand into the other pocket.

"Because... you hate doing any chores...?" Blues sounded confused.

"I don't see why," Enzan hurried off to work on the first of the list, while his Navi just felt more and more confused.

_Why wouldn't I want to do anything my mother asked me to...?_

**----------xXx----------**

Three hours later, three servants found Enzan napping on a couch. His PET was on the coffee table in front of it. Needless to say, they assumed he'd done nothing... He only had a half an hour before he had to leave to meet his mother at IPC. Enzan was quickly woken up by the soft voices. It only took once sentence for him to realize it would be better for him to pretend he was still sleeping... 

"I told you he wouldn't do any of them again. Rather spoiled little rich brat, isn't he?"

"Private school, three grades ahead, never gets punished for not doing what he's asked to, and gets away with nearly everything he wants to..."

"I saw him working earlier, though... At least one of the items on that list got completed," the third servant seemed hesitant to say.

"Well that's a first. But still. He probably only did that because of the reason he's supposed to mean Ijuuin-sama at IPC today. Haven't you ever noticed he'll do at least a little something if he gets something out of it?"

"I don't think Ijuuin-sama told him why she wants him to come to IPC."

"It's a surprise, isn't it?"

"If he doesn't know, then why would he do anything?"

"Boredom?"

"Even that doesn't account for it. He always finds something to kill time that doesn't involve actual work."

"You should go tell one of the drivers to get ready, either way, he should be up soon. It's almost 10:30."

"I'll go. You should probably go finish what he didn't do before Ijuuin-sama comes home," the female servant suggested, before she headed off; walking past the table where the PET sat propped. Enzan listened, and heard both of the other servants leaving the room in the other direction. It wasn't until after he was sure they were gone that he sat up and looked at the ground.

"Blues...?"

"You... heard everything, didn't you, Enzan...?" Enzan winced slightly, but looked to Blues and nodded.

"Hai... Do... Do all of them think that way about me...?"

"Well you **are** a bit spoiled, Enzan."

"Oi!" Enzan's cheeks tinged pink as he made a rather annoyed face, and Blues snickered softly. Enzan blinked at it, and shook his head. He stood up and picked the PET up as he did. "I should get changed before I leave."

"You're... actually going to wear a suit...?"

"Mama asked me to, didn't she?"

"Yes, but..."

"But what?"

"Nevermind. It saves me begging you for 20 minutes to please at least wear something better than what you're wearing," Blues replied, smirking.

"I'm beginning to think I don't understand you at all."

"There are times I don't understand you either. So I guess that makes us even, doesn't it?"

"...I guess... it does... Blues..." Enzan hurried back to his room, but it wasn't until he went to put on a tie that he realized the two he could find looked horrible. One was even a clip on... and looked like it'd been run over with a truck... repeatedly. "Don't I have any better looking ties...?"

"You have the one that Mama gave you for Christmas, but it's never been opened, Enzan."

"Where is it?"

"In your sock drawer... behind your socks," Blues sort of trailed off. Enzan didn't notice it, and went over to reach behind his socks, but found nothing. "Way... way... behind... your socks..."

"There's nothing but the back of the drawer there, Blues," Enzan grumbled.

"Keep reaching around. You'll find it," Blues mumbled.

"There's nothing th- ...why would...?" Enzan pulled out new red tie that had indeed never been opened. Nothing made sense, but he knew he'd have to be leaving soon, and shrugged it off. Hurriedly, he opened it, and went back over to the mirror in his closet where Blues still sat on a shelf. As he went to tie it, Blues spoke up again.

"Are you sure you remember how to tie one of those?"

"Blues, will you stop?" He grumpily replied, and finished tying it, then adjusted it. Blues seemed rather surprised.

"Frankly, I'm a little surprised. You haven't done that in years. Not since Papa's funeral," Blues again trailed off, but this one made Enzan look at him as if this were news. Which... it was...to him.

"Otousan... is... dead...?"

"Please don't joke, Enzan..."

"I'm not, Blues, and stop calling me that."

"But that's your name."

"I know that, but... add something onto that, can you?"

"I am not calling you 'sama', that's for the servants, Enzan."

"Anything, Blues. Just... stop calling me 'Enzan'..."

"Enzan... kun...?" Blues tried... Enzan blinked... why was that the first thing his Navi tried? Either way, it felt better, and less... unsettling... than just 'Enzan' was to him. He even sort of liked hearing that from Blues. A small smile crossed his lips as he reached for his PET.

"That works, Blues. Thank you..."

"Why does it suddenly bother you so much, Enzan-kun?"

"It just... feels... strange... Gomen nasai, Blues."

"Daijoubu. You should hurry u-" Blues was interrupted by an incoming mail chime. He opened it, and a recorded message began playing. It was an audio message from his mother.

"_Enzan-chan, I hope I've caught you in time. Before you leave, would you send Blues to IPC ahead of you? And don't forget to please wear a suit for me, sweetie? Thanks. I love you. Bye._"

"Send... you... to IPC?"

"That's what she asked, Enzan-kun. You can plug me into the system-"

"I know, I know. Just... why would she want you there first?"

"I know as much as you do..."

"And that would be next to nothing," Enzan looked around his room, and found the plug where it always was. He pulled the cord from the side of the PET and plugged it into the outlet on the device next to a white laptop on his desk.

"I'll meet you there, Enzan-kun. Have a safe trip," Blues smiled, before he disappeared into a burst of pixels... heading over the net towards the IPC Servers.

"You too... Blues..." Enzan unplugged the PET, and waited a moment before he ran off to meet the driver out front. He got the strangest looks from a few servants on the way out. Probably because he was wearing a suit... a _full_ suit... that **looked** decent... for once.

**----------xXx----------**

He was 5 minutes late, but that was due to traffic, not his holding up the driver. The moment he got close enough to the IPC building, he didn't bother to wait until the driver was able to make it to turn off and park. Enzan got out of the car, and ran the rest of the way to the front doors, the moment he entered the lobby, he froze. It looked... completely different. It was... warmer... more inviting. "Comforting" was another good word he could think of. But glancing around, he spied a digital clock that read 11:07... and he headed over to the receptionist at the front desk. 

"Gomen ne... But where's Mama at right now?" Enzan sounded rushed, the woman looked up, and blinked, looking at the boy's chest and shoulders, then back to his face.

"Ijuuin-sama is at lunch. She should be having it in Board Room 6 on the 3rd floor, however, I'll call her and ask-"

"She's expecting me, though," Enzan moved to leave.

"Yes, but I should make sure she didn't move to another Board Room, Ijuuin-san," the woman replied. Enzan... really couldn't argue with that logic. He sighed, and nodded, standing against the front desk. The woman hurriedly dialed an extension, and apparently received an answer immediately. "Ijuuin-sama? Are you still having lunch in Board Room 6? You are? Good... Your son is here... Hai... Hai... Hai, Ijuuin-sama," the woman hung up and looked for Enzan, but the boy had disappeared. Truthfully, he'd gone as soon as he'd heard the confirmation that his mother was in the same room. He was already late, this wasn't a good thing. The receptionist sighed and leaned back on her chair. "Mou... Enzan..."

Meanwhile, Enzan was already making his way down the long hallway on the third floor... having been lucky enough to catch an elevator that was already going up near the lobby. He knew it was a little longer to go around this way, but it was still faster than finding the stairs and heading up those. Just two turns from the elevator and he'd be there. So far the layout hadn't changed... but then, he didn't really expect it to.

_Of course, I wasn't expecting the lobby of IPC to look the way it did, but... maybe I did... a little... I suppose Okaasan **would** be different in how she ran the company than Otousan is..._

"Here it-" Enzan stopped, and listened a moment... He heard three men speaking, as well as his mother replying. He knew she was expecting him... and he should just go... but something made him stop and listen first...

"I do hope you'll forgive my son if he's not dressed appropriately. He really is very intelligent, especially for his age. But he's still a 13-year-old boy..."

"It's perfectly alright, Ijuuin-san. I have a son as well. I think he's going through a phase himself."

"It shouldn't matter the age of a child, he should be taught to respect the wishes of their parents," the last voice made Enzan wince. He remembered hearing his own father say that to another man soon after his mother's funeral. It was one of many reasons he made himself do things he didn't want to many times...

"He does respect my wishes, Mukino-san, but I'm not one to force someone to do something that would later hurt them. Not my own son at least," Enzan smiled to himself. A part of him wanted to cry at that... They were words he never once heard his father even come remotely close to saying... or meaning. But he realized it had been long enough... he should be in there already. With that, he pushed everything down... something he'd had to teach himself to do consistently before large business meetings as Vice President of IPC. After a moment to himself, and ignoring continued conversation, he knocked on the door, and waited until he heard his mother tell him to enter before he opened the door. Once he stepped into the room, he could see the look of surprise on her face. the young boy's entire demeanor was completely different from the child she'd left at home this morning. He entered the room as if he were another staff member, or another business partner.

But then... in Enzan's mind, he still was. And he was able to use that.

"Good morning, gentlemen. Okaasan," Enzan spoke in a rather adult tone. His mother's face was now much more openly surprised... but it was in a good way. The three men returned the greeting, followed by a simple one in reply from his mother. It was then he closed the door behind him. His mother shifted over, patting a seat beside her.

"Come sit down, lunch should be here within the next 15 minutes. I ordered you something as well. May I ask what took so long to get here, Enzan?" He noted that she also dropped the more familiar term in the presence of other businessmen.

"There was heavy traffic for the last few blocks. I apologize if I've delayed anything because of it," Enzan gave a light bow to the men before he sat beside his mother.

"Not at all, Enzan, we've just been discussing a few things here and there until lunch arrives," she replied.

"This is the son you spoke of? He seems nothing like what I was expecting, Ijuuin-san," the voice of the man that had told her she should make him respect her wishes spoke up. He gave Enzan a rather thorough lookover. Enzan didn't seem at all phased. He kept silent, however, when the discussion had started up again, though he paid close attention to nearly every word spoken. Before he realized much time had passed, lunch had arrived.

He felt like he was using manners he didn't even know he had as he ate. The empty red PET in his jacket pocket was starting to bother him near the end of lunch, however, and he kept looking to the woman beside him... However, he knew better than to bring up anything before it was time to. He wouldn't have to wait long. Once everyone confirmed they were finished, the food was removed and the room's lights were darkened. A 3D-projected screen appeared over the table. A similar screen to the new, Progress-Style PET. The image and schematics for the Plug In PET were displayed on it, along with a small, 3D model of it in the upper, left-hand corner.

...Enzan started to feel an overwhelming sense of Deja Vu as his mother began talking.

"As you know, for the last year, IPC has been working on upgrading the PET design to add more recent and advanced technology and expand the usefulness of even a Basic PET. We wish to allow the features NetBattlers and NetWorkers alike are used to while making some things easier and more readily accessible," the image changed to what appeared to be the normal, 3D screen from the Progress PET. And Enzan finally got a silent answer to where his Navi was. His mother looked at him and smiled lightly. "Enzan, do you have any of your Battle Chips with you?"

"Hai, Okaasan," Enzan pulled about 5 chips from his jacket pocket. The opposite one from where the red PET was, and held them in his palm. His mother didn't get a chance to say another word... The speech she was giving was the same one he had given when they upgraded from the Advanced PET to the Progress PET design. Enzan was able to think on the fly when it came to business, and he continued where his mother had stopped without any prompts from her to do so. He also had to clear all references to Cross Fusion since that didn't seem at all relevant to this particular upgrade.

"The interface should be smoother, and faster than the PET are now. Ability to hold more Data from Battle Chips at a time to allow for faster access to Battle Chips will appeal to the numerous NetBattlers the world over. For example, slotting in 5 Battle Chips would store the data within the PET until it is ready to be used with the Navi," he looked from the small screen in front of him, to the larger one in the center. He ignored all the looks he was being given. "It's also possible to use two Chips simoutaneously versus slotting in two separate chips and risking a lag in Data transfer to the Navi. Blues! **Battle Chip, Wide Sword, Area Steal! Double Slot In!**" Enzan pulled the top two chips over, and released them on Blues' back. Blues' arm formed a sword just as he disappeared from view. "The screen of the PET will also track the individual's Navi on the main screen, as well as an optional corner overview map that will allow you to track any other Navi you may be working with. This is more useful for those who use Navi to work and repair than it is for NetBattlers. But for those who play group games online using their Navi, it's a useful tool for tracking their friends." Blues reappeared in the center of the screen. The map in the corner showed how far he moved, while in the center, the red navi sliced through a setup prop. It seemed stupid, but the purpose of this was a demonstration of the _PET's_ abilities... not the Navi's. "As you can see, however, it does show you the general location of the Navi the PET is currently being used with to help with general location knowledge should where you are be new territory," Enzan looked at the three other businessmen. They had lost the surprised look a while ago, and were actually paying attention to this bit of a demonstration. Enzan's mother, however, went on to speak, hoping to get at least a little of her own speech in... though... her son had taken most of the first part.

"Blues. I thank you for helping to show how the Chips are now used and the screen's capabilities."

"It was not problem at all, Ijuuin-sama," Blues bowed to the woman lightly. A moment later, the screens were turned off, and the lights were brought up to normal. Enzan hadn't noticed a black case being sat on the table as his eyes adjusted to the lighting level. He let on a bit of surprise, but made sure not to look too confused.

"Enzan, please hand me your PET then remove the contents of the case for us?"

"Hai, Okaasan," Enzan pulled the Plug In PET from his jacket pocket, and handed it over to his mother. He then reached forward, and opened the black case. Inside... was a red Progress Style PET, custom grip, holster, and a battle chip wristband. Enzan couldn't help remembering that this is exactly how he had setup the case when he presented Netto with his new Progress Style PET. And with that memory, he believed he knew what was coming.

"IPC has also designed the prototype for the new Progress PET. Each of you have a working model by your chairs. It has a rather low-level standard Navi installed and is blank to allow for ultimate Customization including Navi Emblem. Enzan...?"

"Hai," the boy took just the PET from the case, then carefully removed the grip. "**Plug In, Blues! Transmission!**" Though he knew this would be backwards in terms of which way the data was being transferred, he hit the center dataport with the wireless beam, then the black and white emblem on the side of the PET. He made sure to hold the PET with the custom grip as he brought up the 3D Screen that was almost identical to the one used in the presentation. He noticed, however, the screen flickered slightly. Something it didn't do on the screens from the presentation table's projectors. "Naturally any small flaws in the PET or the hardware will be worked out before the product is mass distributed. Please try your own model and let us know of any problems you note so that we can give these to the design team and make the appropriate adjustments and repairs." Enzan looked at the three men, who seemed to think that was a logical idea. Each of them then activated the 3D screen, and fiddled around with the basic Navi in each to see how it worked. All of the screens were flickering for them as well. Enzan knew immediately what was doing it. The projection and interface wasn't synched properly yet. A few simple calibrations would do it. Something that should have been done before this meeting. Enzan wondered; honestly; how fast his mother had pushed this PET to be finished...

"The only constant I notice is the slightly flickering screen. Any time this Navi moves, the screen flickers."

"I'm unable to smoothly use any simple Battle Chips."

"I'm a little concerned at the unresponsiveness of this Navi to any input I make."

"Please remember, gentlemen, these are just prototypes and working models. This is why we need you to tell us what needs to be tweaked before final production is begun," Enzan's mother replied. Surprisingly, though he could sense it... her bit of nervousness was not coming through her voice nor her expression. She maintained a rather calm and serious manner.

"As to the flickering screen and use of Battle Chips, they appear to be related. A few small calibrations to the synch between projection and user interface should take care of that. It's possible the lack of response to input is due to the same problem while the 3D Screen is being projected," Enzan added calmly.

_Now **that** is something you **can't** learn in business classes... I'm **sure** to get questioned on that one later..._

The men appeared satisfied and in agreement with Enzan's explanation...

"Other than that, I see no problems with the new style PET. I'll return in one week to see the final model of this PET. If all the bugs have been removed and the errors we've noted are fixed, you have the contract to begin marketing this new style, Ijuuin-san," the man on the right of Enzan spoke. Enzan had to nearly bite through his tongue to keep from automatically replying. The other two seemed to be in agreement with this idea.

"One week should be ample time to allow for errors in testing and spare trials to be done. It sounds fair to me."

"Agreed."

"Then I shall see you gentlemen in one week. Thank you for your time and I do hope it has been a pleasure doing business here," Enzan's mother stood first, and lightly bowed to each man. They in turn stood and returned the gesture. Enzan followed suit silently, returning theirs.

"It has been a pleasure to meet all of you, and doing business with each of you. IPC also thanks you for your helpful input into the model PET's bugs. It is only because of you that we may improve."

"It has been an equal pleasure to meet you as well, young Ijuuin-san. I hope to do more business with you as well in the future." The man across from he and his mother smiled and nodded lightly. It was the same voice that had said he had a son the same age as Enzan. A few more minor exchanges and shared good-byes left the two Ijuuins alone in the board room. It was a good two minutes before the elder one spoke to the boy who was messing with the new Progress PET.

"Enzan-chan..."

"Mama?"

"I... I'm very proud of you today... You handled yourself so well. You may have even gained IPC the contract for the new PET style to be produced. I don't know... how you managed all of that on the fly. There was no way for you to have known. I only wanted you here because that PET is your present. Yours is more of a final model than the ones I allowed them to use. I'm sorry there are still prob-"

"Iie. It's a simple problem and is easily remedied. It was also the only problem. Which is a good thing. While they weren't expecting a perfect model, I think having only one minor error showed them that even we are capable of mistakes, and we're as human as they are. It helps to build the relationship on a personal level as well as a business level. Just have the synchronization recalibrated more precisely and by hand before mass production is begun and that should be all you need to do," his voice was overtly businesslike as he explained that to his mother. She just stared at him, confused.

_If I'm going to go down with questions, let me get my piece out beforehand._

"Enzan-chan... this... this isn't something you learn in Business Class in school. The building relationships on a more personal level I'll buy, but not the specifics of a PET."

"I've messed around with my old PET to learn how it works. I also know that the table's projection system is calibrated very precisely, however, the system's different than one used to create a PET. It's a simple thing to overlook when transferring an idea, Mama" Enzan looked at the woman and smiled lightly.

"Enzan-kun, I don't recall you messing with my PET at all," Blues said hesitantly. Enzan's fast thinking was still working...

"Why would I do something like that while you're not in Sleep Mode?"

"...Good point," Blues looked to Enzan's mother. "Thank you for allowing me to help you, Ij-... Mama," Blues quickly corrected himself again. Though having just had to call her 'Ijuuin-sama' for business reasons helped his slip.

"Thank you for allowing me to use you in the demonstration, Blues," she replied, smiling.

"Mou I'd think you'd be thanking me for letting you use my Navi, Mama," Enzan sounded playfully insulted, as well as having a small smirk on his face.

"Oh, of course! Thank you, Enzan-chan," the woman smirked in reply and grabbed the boy in a tight hug. This resulted in Enzan laughing.

_If this is a dream... I hope I never wake up..._

**----------xXx----------**_  
Bye bye, baby...  
Don't be long...  
I worry about you...  
While you're gone...  
I think of you,  
In my dreams...  
You'll never know...  
Just what you mean...  
To me..._**  
----------xXx----------**

He had told his mother to keep the Progress PET and test the calibrations on it before he took it. She agreed, and Blues was returned to the old PET until the repairs were made to synch the two items that needed to be fixed. The next morning, Enzan kept hearing Blues yelling at him to wake up or he'd be late. The bed was too warm and comfortable. He could feel how cold the rest of his room was, and there was _nothing_ that was going to get him out of this bed.

"Enzan-chan!"

...Except maybe that...

"Hai?" He yelled his replied... still all but buried under his blankets, however.

"If you don't get up and get ready for school, I don't give you the repaired Progress PET!"

"...Kuso..." Enzan muttered, and shifted to get himself out of bed. After a rather long stretch, he realized how stupid he felt. Working as Vice President under his father, he'd gotten out of going to school altogether. Even with the tutor his father had gotten, Enzan essentially finished what he needed to in order to effectively 'graduate'. He remembered what he'd heard one of the servants say yesterday, but... that didn't tell him where he went.

But then, if this was all a dream, wouldn't he be able to just believe where he went and go?

...Of course... that hasn't really worked all that well so far. Would Blues think he was sick if he asked a question like that?

"Enzan-kun, try not to keep your driver waiting this morning. He has to take your Mama to a meeting across town after he drops you off. I'm sure you wouldn't want her to be late, right?" Blues spoke up, seeing how slow the boy was moving this morning.

"Maybe I could just walk and be late on my own. Mama could get to her meeting then without worry," Enzan smirked.

"You? Find your way to school without sleeping in the back of the car?" Blues snickered. Enzan blinked at this... "Gomen nasai, Enzan-kun, but I don't think you've ever made it to school without a nap in the car. Though I could tell you the way there, it would just be much simpler for you to just get driven there as usual. You'll only be 5 or 10 minutes late versus about half an hour if you walked," Blues still smirked, and by now, Enzan's cheeks were bright red in a blush.

"I won't be late!"

"You were late yesterday."

"That wasn't my fault!"

"So if you really want to get to school on time; for once; then get moving now and you might make it," Blues crossed his arms, still smirking.

"Wipe that silly grin off your face, you're still coming with me," Enzan sounded a little embarrassed.

"Not if your Mama has to transfer my data to the new PET."

"That'll take all of 5 minutes and we can do it on the way to school," Enzan was now the one smirking. Despite the visor, Enzan could tell Blues was giving him a look. The boy snickered and hurriedly went off to once more shower and dress for the day.

Upon looking in his closet, he found what looked to be a boy's school uniform, and picked it up. Blues thought about questioning why Enzan was actually wearing it without hassle for once; but decided to keep quiet. He did, however, pipe up when he noticed his Op actually wearing it properly.

"You tucked in your shirt?"

"Don't start, Blues, I had enough of those questions before meeting Mama at work yesterday. Just pretend I'm crazy or something and let it slide," Enzan grinned as he took the PET off its charger and headed downstairs for breakfast. Blues, honestly, could _not_ reply to that. Enzan once more ate with his mother, but they both left this time. His comment was accurate, as she asked for the old PET once in the car. He watched his mother transfer the data from the old PET to the new Progress PET.

And he hated to tell her to be careful... she seemed to know that already, but he couldn't help worrying... His eyes never left the woman's hands with every move she made. Once done, she powered up the new PET and handed it to Enzan.

"I heard you usually slept on the way to school. Too excited about a new PET to nap today?" She smiled, Enzan blushed lightly and nodded. That seemed to work as an excuse... He brought up the 3D screen, and noticed that the flickering was gone, and when he slot in his chips, they appeared almost immediately. Trying Wide Sword, he also found the timing had been recalibrated. The PET was now as he remembered it to work.

...Except for that whole Cross Fusion thing... Something told him that was just not part of the design here.

He actually found himself musing if this meant Netto's Navi didn't even have Style Change yet... and smirked.

"Enzan-kun, you'd best hurry if you want to make it to class on time. You have 10 minutes to be in homeroom," Blues said, letting Wide Sword dissolve into his normal arm.

"Hai, hai... I'm going!" Enzan hurried out of the now stopped car, and towards the building's main entrance. A few other students also seemed to be in a hurry. None of them bothered to look oddly at Enzan... they were too busy trying not to be late themselves. One of them was also trying to talk to their own Navi and run at the same time. But just wasn't as coordinated as Enzan; and tripped on the stairs in front of the boy. The girl whimpered, and her PET had gone skittering across the step that her hand landed on. Enzan slowed his run, and picked up the PET, glancing at the screen briefly before he held the device out to the girl. She snatched the PET away quickly before she caught sight of the red device in Enzan's hands. Her eyes went wide and she stood up hurriedly.

"Sugoi! Where'd you get that!"

"Ano... Mama... gave me... this... This morning..." Enzan blushed. The girl only then seemed to notice who he was, and took a step back.

"Ijuuin Enzan..."

"...Hai?"

"Gomen nasai. It was stupid of me to-"

"How was it stupid?"

"You always get things before everyone else. I have to get to class," the girl backed up again and turned to bolt off.

"Blues...?"

"Hai, Enzan-kun?"

"Does everyone think I'm an ass?"

"No! Just that you're a spoiled little rich brat. Not an ass."

"That... doesn't... help," Enzan said; flatly.

"You should hurry yourself."

"Can I ask another stupid question?"

"Aside from that?"

"Ha ha... Ano... where...?" Enzan trailed off... unable to really ask that question. Blues snickered before he replied.

"When you actually have to think about it, you really don't know, do you. Third Floor, room 306... Enzan-kun," Blues was still smirking, Enzan just gave him a look, and ran into the building.

**----------xXx----------**

_Have you gotten anywhere...?_

_They have to wake up._

_That's obvious. This isn't good for anyone no matter the reason. I meant any ideas what got them this bad in the first_ _place, Hakase..._

_No... Blues and Rockman have been trying to help with the data and readouts, but nothing yet..._

_They have as much stake in this as anyone does... God be with you all._

_Where are you going?_

_I'm going to try and get something through to someone. Wish me luck. I may need a hammer and chisel._

_I've already tried to talk to him..._

_And...?_

_A Rabid Wolverine wouldn't make him understand the point of this situation._

_Isn't that a little extreme?_

_You don't know him at all, do you._

_Blues..._

_Gomen nasai... Hikari-hakase..._

_No... I think you may have hit the proverbial nail on the head._

_Hai... But I wish I hadn't..._

**----------xXx----------**

By lunch, Enzan was already bored. He honestly believed he'd have more fun at a business meeting than in half of his classes. For a moment, he caught himself using the phrase that he was 'better than this' when thinking of the class. It was then he realized just what he was saying... 

He should be relaxing. Enjoying this. There were times during those droning, boring business meetings he had wished to be listening to a lecture in school. To be surrounded by other kids instead of adults. Just one day of something close to 'normality'... He'd _gotten_ that wish even if it was all illusionary... and he's complaining about it.

That and his attitude surely wouldn't be helping his apparent reputation around here... He shifted, and looked to the food in front of him.

"What's wrong, Ijuuin? Too good for your own food?" A boy's voice half-taunted from beside Enzan... Who replied with ice in his tone and his brilliant blue eyes; which surely pierced the boy in return. There was... something... behind that look...

"Not exactly. Though it does look a bit... colorful... for school food..."

"What's that supposed to mean. You don't like vegetables?"

"Something about pink and blue on a background of green and beige doesn't appeal to me no."

"Now that you mention it... It... sort of... does look off," the boy blinked, noting Enzan's food, then sort of looking through his own remnants. Seemingly worried. Enzan pointed over the boy's remaining food, noting a little pink on his food as well. While the other boy seemed confused, and checked said food... knowing it wasn't like that 2 minutes ago... Enzan shifted his hand back to his desk. The other boy looked at Enzan almost in a panic. After all... he'd just eaten 3/4 of that food... Enzan's face didn't give any hint of a joke... of course... Ijuuin Enzan wasn't known for pranks or jokes.

There's a first time for everything...

A minute after hunting through his food, the boy ran his hand through his hair in frustration. Only a moment later, two small green-tinted streaks appeared in his light brown hair. Making that mop of hair almost it look like it had leaves mixed into it... if not half-made of leaves. A small smirk appeared on Enzan's lips, but his voice didn't give that away.

"Kitabu-san... Has anyone ever told you how... foliaceous... your hair looks?"

"Eh? Ano... iie...? Eto... A...ri... gatou...?" The boy was utterly confused. Enzan may have kept his minor little smirk and stayed silent, but two girls and three other boys seemed to know what was just said... and found it highly amusing.

So much so it made the boy that Enzan had just... 'complimented'... yank a small compact from a girl nearby in a panic and check his hair while the others in the classroom started laughing louder.

"NANI! Ijuuin! What'd you do?"

"What do you mean?" Enzan snickered, still half-serious... his eyes gained a bit of a playful look to them as he watched the other boy freaking and trying to figure out the green in his hair.

"I know **you** put this in my hair! What'd you do?"

"I didn't do a thing. You put you hands into your own hair," Enzan replied... by now, openly grinning and stifling chuckles. The boy stood up... ready to really hurt Enzan for this... but the teacher returned to the classroom after taking a small break herself, and stopped him cold.

"KITABU!"

"Sensei?"

"Just **what** are you doing?" The woman crossed her arms, and glared Kitabu back to his seat.

"Gomen nasai, Sensei... but... Ijuuin..."

"Ijuuin _what_?"

"Ijuuin made my hair green!"

"And all of **you** are making _my_ hair gray. What's your point?" She said, sighing rather frustratedly. (Note: I can make up words, don't argue. XD ;3)

"Look!" Kitabu pulled at some of his green hair, then made a face, feeling his fingers afterwards. "Ugh! Ijuuin!"

"Kitabu-kun... Don't put your food in your hair and try and get another student in trouble for it. That's a very rude thing to do," the woman's voice was sort of harsh... but also just a tiny bit annoyed. Enzan shifted, and turned around, fiddling with the food on his tray. All he really ate was half of the sandwich. But he was satisfied with himself.

That felt... sort of fun. And he found himself musing what Netto would look like with green pea streaks in his hair. He kept himself from chuckling out loud at that mental image. When the teacher went back to her desk at the front of the classroom, Enzan shifted, and looked to his PET screen. Blues was looking at him oddly.

"What, Blues?"

"What... _did_ you do... to him... Enzan-kun?"

"Simple; but expired; spices I found at home. Because of the mixture, they change the color of the food... Kitabu was too frantic about the colored food to notice his fingers had mashed those peas. He only put peas into his hair. Nothing will harm him," Enzan grinned... still stifling snickers. His voice had remained soft enough only for his Navi to hear him. Blues was likewise speaking at the same volume.

"Why would you bring..."

"I meant to throw them out.. but we were running late. They wound up in my pocket when we hurried to leave this morning. That's all."

"But that seemed completely random... even for you."

"Hardly. I saw how he was treating some of the others earlier. I also know how he was acting throughout classes. Kitabu was a bit annoying anyway..."

"So... you... pulled... a prank... on a boy... because he annoyed you...?"

"Ano... When you word it like that... I guess that is what it amounts to... isn't it...?" Enzan blushed, smiling. His reply was a smile back from Blues... with a very soft snicker.

"Enzan-kun..."

**----------xXx----------**_  
Bye bye, baby...  
Don't be long...  
I worry about you...  
While you're gone...  
_**----------xXx----------**

After school, Enzan carefully put his new PET into his bag and hurried into the hall. Easily mingling into the crowd, he found his way outside quickly. He felt... lighter. Something about what he'd done earlier just got to him. He wore a bright smile on his face now... Something that was unusual for the boy normally. 

"Enzan-kun, where are you going? Home is the other way," Blues asked. Enzan continued running in the direction he was headed.

"I know. But IPC is this way."

"Why are you going to IPC? Is something else wrong with the new PET?"

"Blues.. if there was... wouldn't you be first to know?" Enzan snickered, as Blues stuttered sounds for a reply. It didn't take Enzan that long at his pace to reach the front of the IPC building. He stood there, breathing hard, and looking up at the building. Almost as if he'd never seen the place before. After catching his breath, he headed in... finding the lobby oddly empty of life. "Funny... I swore that at this time of day, the lobby was usually full of people...?"

"How would you know, Enzan-kun...?"

"Ano... Mama... once mentioned it..." Enzan had to come up with a reason that fit... and it seemed to satisfy his Navi. He passed the empty receptionist desk, and headed back towards Development. Hoping to find someone there.

"Why are we here?"

"I had intended to meet Mama, but... Now I want to know where everyone is..."

"But Mama's schedule had meetings all over town today," Blues mumbled. Enzan didn't seem to have heard him... instead, the boy did manage to hear faint mumbling, and headed towards that. He didn't open the door he finally put the mumbling/muffled speaking as coming from. He kept silent, and leaned towards the door, careful not to touch it nor make a sound... The first voice he recognized was his mother's.

"Have you figured out the fatal flaw in this design yet?"  
"Iie... It's just starting to frustrate so many of us. We wanted it to be done in time for the gaming convention in two weeks, but at the rate it's going, we may not find the flaw in the design that degrades Navi Performance when returned to the PET."  
"What about the 'flickering hologram' effect when brought here?"  
"Still no idea why that happens, Ijuuin-sama."

Enzan blinked, and took a slight step back... he also recognized this conversation... He should be the one in there checking over the equipment. He was the only one that found the design flaw in the projection unit... but... he never did figure out what was degrading the Navi Performance.

Basing a 3D gaming system on the same technology that creates a Dimensional Area or enhancing what projects the Net Battles on large stadium screens to project the Navi in 3D form had proven difficult enough a while back that his father had cut the project until such a time as it was deemed feasible to work on again.

Enzan thought he knew why he came to this room just now. This was all a dream, wasn't it... After all, he knew who should be coming down the hall to break up this meeting. But it wouldn't happen that way here. That man is dead in this reality. The boy backed up, bumping into the wall across the hall, and jumped. He could only think about how much 'timeline' meant nothing anymore.

"Enzan-kun... daijoubu...? Your heartrate just... jumped," Blues sounded very worried; and his voice was soft. He knew Enzan wanted to keep as quiet as he could for now; whatever the reason. But his voice managed to snap Enzan out of the slight daze he'd gone into. Enzan blinked, and pulled the PET from his pocket.

"Gomen... Blues... But you're going to think I'm crazy if I tell you," Enzan whispered. Blues chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"Enzan-kun, I already think you're crazy. But that's probably not the same meaning you're thinking. I don't think so in a bad way. Tell me. I promise I won't think it's crazy."

"I know what Mama's working on for IPC."

"That's not crazy."

"And I know how to repair the fatal design flaw."

"That's getting there."

"Because I'm the one that fixed it."

"...I retract my statement. Enzan-kun, are you sure you're getting enough sleep?" Blues tilted his head, and looked at his Op. Enzan sighed, and leaned back... Sliding down to sit against the wall just across from the door to the room his mother was in. He stared at the door, still expecting what he remembered to actually happen... After a few moments, Enzan shifted the PET and held it flat, then hit Blues' Emblem to bring up the 3D Screen. "Enzan-kun...?"

"Blues... would you believe me if I said I saw exactly how to fix it... in a dream? A dream where I was Vice President of the company... under my father?"

"That's a strange dream..."

"You have no idea..."

"Besides that, Enzan-kun, you know full well when you graduate you'll be able to come here. Odd for you to dream so far ahead though," Blues seemed confused. Enzan was going to try and explain it... but thought better of it and just groaned softly, plopping his head down... Thinking; just momentarily; that Blues was acting so much like Rockman it was starting to get annoying...

"Enzan-chan...? What are you doing here?" His mother's voice broke through the hall. She'd opened the door to leave the Development Room only to find her son sitting there holding the PET with a screen projecting... Her voice made him sit straight up; then stand up, hurriedly. Without thinking, he spat out the words he'd said to Blues.

"Mama, I know how to fix your problem."

"What problem...?"

"The Design Flaw in the 3D Game Pro-mmph?" Enzan found his mother's hands over his mouth... which made his eyes go wide.

"Shh!" She looked at him; almost just as shocked... and essentially dragged him back in the room with her and two staff members. "When did you learn about this project?"

"A-Ano... You... wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth, Mama... But for one thing, if you want to keep a secret meeting secret, this is one of the rooms that's just not suitable for hiding voices from the hall... However, it is the biggest in the Development Wing... For an-"

"Enzan... I don't know how you memorized a layout, nor why. I don't know how you learned about this project, though with as long as we've been working on it and hitting brick walls, it really isn't surprising someone else did... I'm just glad it was you... I just hope it was only you..."

"Let me try?"

"It's not a toy, Enzan-chan. It's much more advanced than the PE-"

"Than the PET systems. It's supposed to project the Navi within a small 3D Environment for more realistic NetBattles without the danger to the Operators."

"...That's... exactly... right. Ijuuin-san, perhaps he could just... look over it?" One of the Technicians said, looking to Enzan's mother. She just stared at her son. This was beyond 'smart'... But after a hesitant moment, Enzan handed over his PET to his mother, and knelt beside a control panel. He ignored suggestions on starting to see how things work and removed the panel over a circuitboard on the side. Without another word; and only taking about 5 minutes to pretend to look, he reached to switch two small chips' places. He heard one of the staff flip, but Enzan again ignored them. He flipped on the power to the panel... and turned to his mother.

"Blues...?" Holding his hand out. His mother shook her head.

"As much as I trust you, I think we should test what you've done with a generic Navi before trying this with Blues," she handed the PET back, and pulled out a very dull-looking gray and white Progress PET. Enzan peeked at the screen before the PET was put into a slot on the top of the control panel. Generic? Sort of. It honestly looked more like one of the IPC Security Navi... Enzan's mother moved to initialize the projection, but Enzan stopped her.

"Create the field first. Without it, the Navi isn't appearing within anything. Just dead air. Besides, if the field won't appear then what I did wasn't right," Enzan removed his hand from the woman's arm, and she blinked; but nodded and did as her son suggested. Just as it had before, the field appeared just fine, however, instead of flickering before it became steady in projection... it remained steady and looked rather realistic. Even if it was only an area of a small phone booth that it was within. Enzan bit his lip. Adding one more level of 3D Projection may throw this off more than he thought. His mother, however, seemed pleased. Enzan thought of something he hadn't bothered to remember before. "Mama...?"

"Well this looks promising. It isn't flickering at all," the woman hadn't heard him. She hit a few buttons, and Enzan tried again.

"Mama?"

"Just a moment, two of the staff should have been in their way home by now. If this works, we can send everyone home only a _little_ late."

"But I needed to ask if you," Enzan was interrupted when his mother just smiled, and put one finger on his lips.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it can wait 5 minutes," she let go and continued what she'd been doing.

"Ano..." Enzan looked to the panel then to the field. He then fiddled with buttons on his PET before he brought up the 3D screen with about 6 menus open on it; Blues just looking at them from his position in the lower right corner. He looked back to Enzan, ready to ask what was going on; but didn't get the chance before the boy used two of the menus and answered the question. One scanned the very panel his mother was at. The other was monitoring the system as it was given input. He didn't look all that happy about the numbers and data he was finding. Blues spoke as softly as he could.

"Daijoubu, Enzan-kun?"

"Nn..."

"It's still severely delayed in reaction to input," Enzan immediately replied to his mother's sigh.

"Mama... When you tweaked the projection on the Progress-Style PETs, did you also incorporate that into the 3D Gaming system's projection unit?"

"Of course we did, Enzan-chan."

"Did you account for the vastly different size of the final Projection for the System?" His mother blinked and looked at him.

"I think... Actually... we may have overcompensated for it," the Navi finally reacted to the input, but it wasn't working as it should have. Enzan's one menu showed a major burst of input, and the boy blinked.

"Also overcompensated for delay and reaction time from Op to Navi..." Enzan shook his head and looked back to his PET Screen. "But the system can't handle the backlash of data and output from the sudden input to the Navi. The reaction is severely delayed to begin with, and when it finally goes through, the console shuts down to keep from being overloaded once the reaction occurs and attempts to send that data back to the control panel," Enzan finished, and looked over to find what he said happen. the Navi's projection disappeared. The console shut off and ejected the gray PET. "It's a one-way single shot of activity right now. Unfortunately, the only way to repair this for the moment is to remove the Wireless Ports and have two large cables connected to the projector and projection area. One only for Input to the Navi and field, and one for Output from it and to the console."

"That's not in the contract with Gabcom," his mother took the PET once more and put it into the pocket of her jacket.

"G...Gab...com?" Enzan looked completely confused. IPC had a contract to create this for Gabcom!

"You know who they are. Your last game came from them."

"I know that, Mama... just... I didn't think they'd be the ones who wanted this," Enzan turned off the 3D Screen and stared at the Game System. His mother put her hands on his shoulders from behind him and leaned over, sounding just a bit grateful and also very tired.

"This was the meeting I had to be at today. Update Meeting on the progress of the system. But because of you, we may be able to repair what's wrong with this before the next one. Perhaps we can convince them that cables are absolutely necessary. Right now I think everyone should get home," she waited for her son to look at her before she smiled a little wider. Enzan gave a small smile back and nodded. If this had been his father, he'd have made them work through the night to repair the design before they could go home... and it would be Enzan that would make sure they got something to compensate for his father's demand that they stay away from their families. Doing his best to make sure his father didn't notice it.

Enzan liked this company's policies much better...

That night, Enzan fell asleep with his PET against his chest; feeling content... and comfortable.

Safe enough to just remain as he was for as long as he could. Forgetting that this had to be a dream by now, he had begun to accept this as his reality...

That the life with his father; as IPC's Vice President; was just a horrible nightmare... one that his mother had saved him from. Simply by waking him for school...

**----------xXx----------**

After school the next day, Enzan hurried off downtown. Something he hadn't thought of until recently struck him during lunch. One person he hadn't seen yet... 

Hikari Netto.

"Going to IPC again, Enzan-kun?" Blues sounded half-playful with his tone.

"Iie, Blues," Enzan replied, but said nothing else about it. Blues blinked, but didn't push the issue. Enzan slowed to a walk near a cafe, but didn't head in. He looked around instead... trying to think. Honestly, would Netto still be by this place as usual in a few minutes...? Or... would he have a different routine? He'd found out that his mother had given Yuuichirou _two_ Progress PETs for helping with research and development on the new design as well as for the Game System's design. Netto only would have needed one... And Enzan had gotten to catch a glimpse of the two emblems that were put onto the PETs... he only recognized Rockman's. The other has been new to him...

Enzan's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice near his ear.

"Oi! Enzan?"

"Netto!" The older boy spun to look at the brunette that was now beside him... How long had he been standing there...? Enzan gave Netto a rather happy-looking face, and this made Netto blink.

"Daijoubu, Enzan?" He sounded confused.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"...Just asking... Ano... what are you doing standing here staring off into space?"

"I wasn't staring off into space, Netto," Enzan half-pouted, half-glared. The look didn't quite work. Netto snickered. "Nani?"

"Nevermind," Netto blushed. "So... what are you doing here then?"

"Looking for you."

"Why...?"

"Just to see how you like the new PET, I guess," Enzan smiled, and Netto just looked at him. But after a moment, he pulled out the blue Progress PET and held it in front of him.

"I think it's just like I remember it," Netto said, half expecting Enzan to think he was crazy. But Enzan's response told him so much... in so few words... He just grinned as he spoke.

"It's how I remember it too... Netto..."

**----------xXx----------  
**_Bye bye, baby...  
Don't be long...  
I worry about you...  
While you're gone...  
I think of you,  
Night and day...  
I'll never know...  
Just what you meant...  
To say..._  
**----------xXx----------**

_-TBC-_


End file.
